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New Questions on Aborted Flight at Philadelphia Airport

By Walt Hunter

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A posting on the FAA website raises new questions about the chain of events leading to a pilot's decision to abort a flight Thursday evening at Philadelphia International Airport.

Initial reports indicated the flight en route to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was aborted after a tire blew out as it raced down the runway.

The FAA posting, however, stated ""Aircraft aborted takeoff due to smoke in the number one engine. After the nose tire touched down, the nose gear collapsed."

The FAA later took down the posting, a statement from US Airways saying only that Flight 1702 with 149 passengers and 5 crew "experienced a blown tire and nose gear collapse."

Attorney and aviation expert Arthur Wolk credited the plane's pilot with doing, in his words, a "great job". Wolk pointing out the pilot made his decision as the plane was approaching V1, the so-called "point of no return", traveling at more than 120 miles an hour. It stopped only a few hundred feet from the end of the 10,500 foot long runway, passengers streaming safely down chutes.

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