What began as a routine transatlantic flight from Canada to Yugoslavia turned into a nine-hour ordeal in the skies after a tire on a JAT Boeing 707 was damaged during takeoff, forcing the crew to make a life-or-death decision that ended in one of the most dramatic emergency landings in Yugoslav aviation history.
Shortly after the aircraft, carrying 176 passengers and 10 crew members, departed Toronto International Airport, air traffic control alerted the cockpit that pieces of rubber had been found on the runway, raising fears that one of the aircraft’s tires had exploded during takeoff.
Faced with a difficult choice, the crew ruled out an immediate return to Toronto. The Boeing 707 was carrying nearly 50 tons of fuel and weighed approximately 150 tons — far exceeding its maximum landing weight of 110 tons. Dumping fuel and attempting an emergency landing posed significant risks.
Captain Živanko Lepedat and his crew decided to continue the 8-hour and 40-minute journey to Zagreb, believing they would have a better chance of managing the emergency at their home airport. Passengers remained unaware of the danger throughout the flight to avoid panic.
Meanwhile, Zagreb Airport prepared for the worst. More than 20 fire engines, 10 ambulances, emergency medical teams and hundreds of stretchers were deployed around the runway as the aircraft approached shortly after midnight. Hospitals across the city were placed on alert.
Without knowing which tire had been damaged, the crew opted for an exceptionally soft landing, distributing the aircraft’s weight evenly across all eight main landing wheels. The strategy worked. The aircraft touched down smoothly and rolled to a safe stop without incident.
Subsequent inspections revealed that the retreaded layer of one of the landing gear tires had detached during takeoff, leaving the tire’s internal structure exposed but still inflated. The damaged wheel never made direct contact with the runway during landing, preventing what could have become a catastrophic fire or crash.
For Captain Lepedat, however, the dramatic flight was simply part of the job.
“The only thing that really frightens me is the way people drive cars,” he later said. After safely bringing home nearly 200 people following nine hours of uncertainty, he went home, spent some time with his family and then headed out fishing.