But Star Marianas president Shaun Christian said the airport operation was not actually affected and the runway was not closed.
“It is not even a reportable event,” he said.
Variety learned the incident happened at past 12 noon.
As of press time, Tomas Manglona, Commonwealth Ports Authority manager on Rota, said he was still waiting for an official report about the incident.
Christian said it was only a “minor operational issue,” adding that they would conduct an investigation.
He said the tire was in good shape when the plane departed Saipan.
The blowout happened after the plane landed on Rota but Christian could not tell if it occurred on the runway or when the plane was already on the taxiway.
Christian said there was no damage to the plane.
“It landed safety,” he added.
There was no passenger since the plane was on a chartered flight to transport merchandise and other goods to Rota, he said.
He said they have been flying three to six charter flights every week since May.
“We just wanted to help the economy. The business started with the demand from our Rota customers,” he said.
After the report about flat tire, he said they immediately sent another plane from Tinian to fix the aircraft on Rota.
