Fly the Whale airplane blows out tire while landing on St. Thomas; VIPA temporarily closes runway

ST. CROIX — A Fly the Whale flight from St. Croix safely arrived on St. Thomas Wednesday morning without any reported injuries after blowing out a tire while landing before coming to a stop in the grass, forcing the Virgin Islands Port Authority to temporarily close the runway to remove the airplane.

Raven Phillips, co-host of “The Fish Fry,” an innovative show from the nonprofit VI Crawl that focuses on political education geared toward millennials, was among the nine passengers aboard the aircraft. She flew on the flight while returning to St. Thomas after appearing on a panel of political analysts during WTJX’s live coverage of the general election that was filmed Tuesday night in the St. Croix studio.

Phillips said she heard a strange noise coming from one of the wheels after the flight landed on the runway at the Cyril E. King Airport. She said the experience was rattling, but pointed out the pilot handled the situation quickly and professionally.

“We touched tarmac, and the pilot kind of guided us into the grass and made a full stop in the grass,” she said. “It was a light bump, I’d say.” Phillips said she thought it was odd the plane pulled off the runway and into the grass but noted that she did not have a full grasp of the situation until the pilot stopped the plane and explained what happened.