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.

FMI: www.jet-time.co.uk