A wheel of a Biman Bangladesh Airlines plane burst while taking off, suspending operations at Sylhet Osmani International Airport for two and a half hours on Friday.

No aircraft took off or landed for two and a half hours after the incident took place at 1:15 pm, said airport manager Hafiz Ahmed.

According to the airport authority, the Boeing-737 of Biman Bangladesh Airlines got punctured soon after it started moving on the runway creating a panic among passengers.

The aircraft was carrying 148 passengers and was scheduled to take off for Dhaka around 12.55 pm.

Aircraft operations resumed at 3:45 pm when the Biman aircraft was taken to the hangar. Later, the passengers were sent to Dhaka through different alternative flights.