A Shandong Airlines passenger jet carrying dozens of passengers and crew managed to land safely in Beijing on four burst tires.

The CRJ-200 regional jet, traveling from Lianyungang City to Beijing, reported a malfunction in its front undercarriage before landing in the capital at about 10:00 AM on Wednesday.

The plane veered off the runway when it landed, but no injuries were reported.

The cause of the problem was not immediately known.

The east runway of the Capital International Airport was closed for more than an hour after the plane landed, but normal operations had resumed by noon.

An investigation into the cause of the incident, overseen by Liu Shaoyong, a civil aviation administration vice director, is under way.

(China.org.cn, China Radio International July 29, 2004)