Sun, Sep 21, 2008
Main Landing Gear Tire Blows On Takeoff
A
Danish airline flight headed for the Canary Islands made an
unexpected stop in Copenhagen Friday after departing from Billund
in western Denmark. The Boeing 737-300, owned by Danish charter
airline Jet Time, made a safe emergency landing with no injuries to
the 154 passengers and crew after a landing gear malfunction,
according to police reports.
Thomson Financial reports that shortly after takeoff, the pilot
of the airliner reported a problem with the landing gear. Billund
airport employees alerted authorities when they "discovered bits of
tire on the runway after the Boeing took off," Niels Erik Nielsen,
a duty officer at Copenhagen's Kastrup airport said. "One of the
four wheels in the central landing gear exploded."
A Danish Air Force F-16 was scrambled to visually inspect the
737's undercarriage, and damage to one of the main landing gear
wheels was observed by the fighter's pilot. Initially heading for
Lanzarote in the Canary Islands, the aircraft dumped most of its
fuel load, diverted to Copenhagen, and landed "without problems and
with no injuries," Nielsen said.
As ANN reported, a very similar incident
happened at LAX on September 2, when American Airlines Flight 1586
took off, bound for Toronto. The plane's flight crew reportedly
heard a thunk, and ascertained they'd lost at least one tire. The
plane then circled Catalina Island for close to three hours to burn
off fuel, and landed uneventfully.
The Boeing 737 has two tires per gear truck on each of its two
main landing gear assemblies, and is certified to be able to land
safely on just one tire per truck at maximum landing weight if
necessary.
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