Brake failure in Astana airport, aircraft smoking on runway

Brake system has failed SCAT's Boeing-757 during landing in Astana airport this morning, Tengrinews reports.  

The passenger Boeing-757 making the DV-482 flight from Bangkok lost tires on all four of the wheels of its left gear while landing in Astana on April 1, 2014 at 4:10 a.m. The brakes on the left landing gear got jammed and the tires frayed and started smoking from friction on the runway.

The sight of a smoking plane on the runway brought all the Astana airport services into the state of high alert.  

It is unclear at which point the brakes got jammed, because the air company's press-service reported that the plane's anti-skid alert kicked in only after the landing. "Loss of pressure in the tires caused the alarm. To ensure safety of the plane, the crew decided to request towing of the aircraft with the airports tow-car," Scat said.

"There were 9 crew members and 171 passengers (122 adults and 49 children) in the plane. No one was hurt. The passengers had to be evaluating from the taxiway strip where the plane stopped," the airport said.

An investigation into the accident is now being carried out.

This is not the first incident involving SCAT air company in Kazakhstan. Another landing accident occurred in February last year when its AN- 24RV aircraft carrying 20 passengers skid off the runway in Almaty airport. It drifted into the snowy security sideband and spun 60 degrees giving everyone onboard a bad scare. It was later revealed that the pilot was the one responsible for the accident. He exceeded the recommended landing speed and lost control after the plane touched down. He was sentenced to one year of personal restraint (regognisance not to leave and public works) and prohibited employment at certain positions in aviation for one year.