United Airlines 757 Blows Tire, Debris Takes Out Engine Leaving Newark
United Boeing 757-200
A United Airlines jet blew a tire on takeoff from Newark Airport Saturday night and the resulting debris took out one of the engines forcing the jet to return according to the FBI.
United Flight 96, a Boeing 757-200 aircraft, took off at 6:15 PM EDT with 173 passengers and crew. The debris from the blown tire flew in to the left-hand engine just after takeoff.
‘A tire blew during takeoff and flew into an engine, FBI spokeswoman Barbara Woodruff said. The Federal Aviation Administration said it could not confirm that.’
Eyewitnesses reported seeing flames spewing from engine right after the plane took off.
‘Eyewitness Keisha Thomas, who was traveling on the New Jersey Turnpike, said she witnessed fireballs near a wing shortly after the plane took off.
Thomas heard a loud sound, describing it as “pow, pow, pow.”‘
The airliner landed safely at 8:05 PM. There were no reported injuries.
Image: Flickr [bribri]
Category: Airnation
Concorde…
I remember that. Terrible. Remember the guy shooting the video out of his car while the flaming Concorde flew by?
Vividly… Definitely a horrible accident, completely avoidable too. There was a strip of metal (that had fallen off of another jet) on the runway which caused the Concorde’s tire to burst, with the fragments slamming on the fuel tanks causing them to explode. There was nothing the crew could do.
Since that accident, aircraft tires were improved significantly. Bursting tires used to be a much more common event than it is today, but evidently there’s still some room for improvement!
They obviously missed that strip of metal on the runway…
The following is an extract from a detailed report on the Air france, Charles de Gaullle Concorde air accident:
French investigators looking into the crash said it was probable that a 16-inch piece of metal found on the runway caused a tire to blow out, sending debris from the tire through fuel tanks and triggering a fire that brought down the plane. During takeoff from runway 26 right at Roissy Charles de Gaulle Airport, shortly before rotation, the front right tire of the left landing gear ran over a strip of metal that had fallen from another aircraft. The tire was damaged and pieces of the tire were thrown against the aircraft structure. The fuel tank didn’t puncture, but the shockwave from the impacting tire fragment caused a rupture between the rib at the front of the landing gear well and the skin attached at a 90� angle beneath it (the full fuel tank could not absorb the shock). It was there that fuel spilled out past the landing gear leg, alongside the hot Olympus engine and ignited upon contact with the afterburners.
The major improvement/modification to the Concorde fleets were reinforcing fuel tanks with Kevlar and protecting landing gear.
Tires on most commercial transport category jets are pressurized around 200 psi so any defects, or impact with debris better known as FOD can cause failure that may have further effects on other components. Flight crews routinely inspect tires on preflight to ensure safe operation-but any damgae from outside forces cannot be obviated. Runways are also routinely inspected at major airports by authorities to ensure lowered possibility of FOD induced incidents.
“Chris #2″, The Concorde tires were also re-designed. Changes were made to other aircraft tires as well, and since then there’s been a massive reduction in these types of issues.