Dozens of startled WestJet passengers will arrive at New York City’s John F. Kennedy airport several hours later than scheduled after their plane experienced tire failure during the moments before takeoff on Wednesday morning.

“Flight 1680, which goes from Calgary International Airport to JFK in New York, was taxiing out and getting ready for takeoff about 11:00 this morning on its regular flight,” said WestJet’s Robert Palmer. “On rollout, (the aircraft) encountered some sort of a tire issue. The tire essentially became non-functional, the reasons for which we still don’t know.”

The plane was travelling at approximately 115 knots (213 km/h) when the tire gave way on the new runway at Calgary International Airport. The pilots of the Boeing Next Generation 737 successfully stopped the plane without incident.

“Our pilots are extremely well trained,” said Palmer. “They’re trained for this sort of an eventuality.”

The damaged tire, one of the six tires on the Boeing Next Generation 737, was located underneath one of the plane’s wings near the fuselage. As a precautionary measure, the plane remained stationary on the runaway until the structural integrity of the tire could be determined and a decision made on whether the plane was capable of taxiing or if it needed to be towed.

The 123 passengers, and the five person WestJet crew, were not injured during the ordeal and remained on the plane on the runway for nearly 2.5 hours while the aircraft’s tires and brakes were changed. The passengers were unable to leave the plane because they had cleared U.S. customs.

Once the tires were replaced, the plane was towed to the terminal and the passengers boarded a second aircraft destined for New York City. The passengers are scheduled to arrive at John F. Kennedy airport at 11:30 p.m. E.D.T. The aircraft's air conditioning ran during the delay on the runway. WestJet has apologized to the passengers for the delay and officials say the guests will be cared for.

According to Robert Palmer, tire blowouts are extremely rare. The last time the airline experienced a tire blowout was in August of 2011. WestJest has flown more than 540,000 flights between Wednesday’s tire malfunction and the airline’s previous blowout.

WestJet is investigating the incident.