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A tire on US Airways flight 1651 to Miami ruptured on takeoff at Philadelphia International Airport shortly after 1 p.m. today. The pilot returned the aircraft to Philadelphia International Airport, where the Boeing 737-400 landed safely with 140 passengers and crew on board. The airport's Runway 27 Left was closed as passengers were transported to the terminal building and rescheduled on other US Airways flights to Miami. The plane landed about 2:30 p.m., after circling to burn fuel to get the aircraft down to a better landing weight, said US Airways spokesman Morgan Durrant.

Passengers aboard a US Airways flight bound for Bermuda were delayed for more than 6 hours at Philadelphia International Airport "due to a security concern," said a spokesman for US Airways. According to the FBI, a crew of three baggage handlers was dispatched to load luggage onto Flight 1070. When they arrived at the aircraft, they found a fourth man already there in uniform. They did not recognize him. When they asked the fourth man why he was there, he clambered onto a baggage cart and drove it away.

business,tourism_casinos Zipcar Inc., the national car-sharing network based in Cambridge, Mass., announced Thursday that it is expanding to eight airports, including Philadelphia International. The cars, which can be reserved by members online at Zipcar.com, will be available to rent by the hour or the day here, starting Wednesday. Zipcars will be parked in the Avis Car Rental pick-up facility at Philadelphia airport. The company, a subsidiary of Avis Budget Group Inc., said travelers with long flight delays and layovers can, rather than sit in the airport for hours, reserve Zipcars to get out and explore the local area.

A training instructor with the Transportation Security Administration at Philadelphia International Airport pleaded guilty in federal court today to taking a bribe from a security officer. Shannon Gilliam, 29, of Sharon Hill, potentially faces four to 27 months in prison under advisory sentencing guidelines. Gilliam, who began working for the TSA in 2003 as a baggage screener and was promoted to training instructor in 2008, has been suspended with pay pending the outcome of the investigation, a TSA official said.

Qatar Airways will add Philadelphia to its nonstop routes next year, making the city the carrier's fifth gateway in the United States. Qatar Airways chief executive officer Akbar Al Baker announced new routes on three continents Monday at the opening day of a Middle East travel exhibition in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The airline flies to 126 destinations worldwide from its hub in Doha, the capital of Qatar, which borders Saudi Arabia. "Philadelphia is one of the major hubs of the soon-to-be merged American Airlines/US Airways and will provide Qatar Airways' customers with onward connections to over 100 cities," Al Baker said in a statement.

Workers who push passengers in wheelchairs at Philadelphia International Airport filed complaints with the U.S. Transportation Department and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) alleging that their employer, PrimeFlight Aviation Services, and three airlines that contract with it failed to provide proper training and equipment to safely do their jobs. The complaints, filed Thursday, allege violations of the federal Air Carrier Access Act and ask the Transportation Department to impose fines and order US Airways, United Airlines, and Southwest Airlines to force PrimeFlight to correct the problems.

Three US Airways employees at Philadelphia International Airport have been fired, and a number of others disciplined, for selling their employer-issued "buddy" passes for a profit on flights between Philadelphia and Tel Aviv, Israel. The FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office in Philadelphia are investigating, US Airways spokesman Todd Lehmacher said. The three employees fired were a US Airways manager, a fleet service agent, and a customer service agent, Lehmacher said. "Several employees were involved in a fraudulent ticket scheme that involved using employee travel benefits to and from Tel Aviv," he said.

The FAA has directed flights bound for Philadelphia International Airport to delay takeoff from their originating airports because of low cloud cover here. The "ground delay" is intended to prevent a backup in case flights already en route are slowed in landing because of the weather. The action is delaying flights an avarage of 20 minutes, the FAA said. Passengers and those picking up arrivals are advised to check www.phl.org or call 1-800-745 4283 for the latest flight information.

Going somewhere this winter? For the price of less than a tank of gas, one airline says it will take you there. Southwest is offering one-way tickets to selected destinations starting at $35. Of course it's during the off-season. That is, it applies to flights Nov. 30 through Dec. 14 and from Jan. 4 through Feb. 15. And the fares won't be valid for travel on Sundays, usually a big day for business travelers. The deeply-discounted fares are on sale until 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time Thursday.

Gridlock hit commercial flights at some East Coast airports Monday, as 1,500 air traffic controllers were forced to take a mandatory furlough day due to federal budget cuts. Flights into New York and Newark, N.J., were delayed an hour and 23 minutes in Newark; 2 hours and 43 minutes at John F. Kennedy airport; and one hour and 43 minutes at LaGuardia airport, according to the Federal Aviation Administration website. Philadelphia International Airport experienced delays of 15 minutes or less, which is considered normal, according to the FAA website.