Flight EY461 to Abu Dhabi began to roll down the airport runway shortly before 7pm on Sunday, but had to slam on the brakes.

The wheels of a plane carrying almost 300 passengers have reportedly exploded on the runway at Melbourne Airport, causing delays and “disruptions” to other flights.

An Etihad flight from Melbourne has been forced to slam on the brakes at close to 300km/h, damaging the tyres.

A major international airport has been thrown into full scale alert after a passenger plane was forced to abort takeoff when two tyres exploded on the runway.