Thai Airways Jet Blew Several Tyres

[stumonster]

Jet blows tyres on landing

October 26, 2005

Thai Airways jet blew several tyres as it landed at Melbourne airport around midday today, Airservices Australia said.

All air traffic into and out of Melbourne airport has been brought to a standstill.

The plane was stranded at the intersection of two runways at the airport, a spokesman for the air traffic control agency said.

The Airbus A340 "landed heavily" and "damaged a number of wheels on landing", the spokesman said.

"There was a small fire in the undercarriage," he said.

Planes are being diverted to Adelaide and Avalon airports for the time being and engineers are looking at the under-carriage to see whether the plane can be towed.

So far, 12 planes had been diverted from the airport or delayed.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/commo...55E1702,00.html

[think_too_mut]

It was in strong crosswinds..

Also,

"A spokesman for the Air Transport Safety Bureau said the plane shredded "most, if not all, of its tyres" after landing heavily."

[Jai Dee]

A bit worrying for sure, as the weather forecast for Melbourne shows fine weather, so why the heavy landing?

[The Gentleman Scamp]

Wonder what it must have been like on board.

[think_too_mut]

A bit worrying for sure, as the weather forecast for Melbourne shows fine weather, so why the heavy landing?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

"Cool gusty westerly wind gradually moderating."

Maybe TG A340 had arrive before the "moderation" happened?

"A gust is a sudden, brief increase in wind speed that generally lasts less than 20 seconds."

If I remember correctly, gusty winds were 50-60kmph.

[taxexile]

must be using remoulds , all part of the costcutting.

[think_too_mut]

A month or so ago, Air France A340 overshot the runway in Toronto, under strong "sudden crosswinds".

Now TG A-340 in Melbourne.

I am wondering, had those "sudden crosswinds" existed before A-340?

Or they don't exist only in France where the equipment has been developed?

[cdnvic]

A month or so ago, Air France A340 overshot the runway in Toronto, under strong "sudden crosswinds".

It was actually a raging thunderstorm.

cv

[think_too_mut]

A month or so ago, Air France A340 overshot the runway in Toronto, under strong "sudden crosswinds".

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It was actually a raging thunderstorm.

cv

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The report said it were "strong crosswinds" that made it overshot the runway.

Anyone can find how in the US they have installed detectors for those winds but not in Canada.

BTW, just spoke to a coleague of mine in Melbourne, he said there were gusts last night and this morning and then he got burried with work and did not notice when it eased. Now, 3pm Melbourne time it's just overcast. Anyway, he's in the city, 25km from the Tullamarine airport.

[Youbloodybeauty]

The report said it were "strong crosswinds" that made it overshot the runway.

HERE is the info on that Air France incident.

Weather at the time of the crash was poor, with heavy thunderstorms, including torrential rain, gusty winds, and lightning in the immediate vicinity of the airport.

Cheers YBB

[Jai Dee]

Here's the latest (from ninemsn.com.au) on the incident:

Melbourne airport runway reopens

Wednesday Oct 26 16:23 AEST

One of Melbourne airport's runways has been reopened after the entire airport was brought to a standstill when a Thai Airways jet blew a tyre on landing.

The Airbus A340 flight 981 from Bangkok blew a tyre on landing just after midday (AEST) and became stranded at the intersection between two runways.

All flights were suspended.

A spokesman for Airservices Australia said only one tyre had burst.

He said the plane had now been towed off one of the runways, which was now operational again.

Hydraulic fluid had leaked onto hot metal, which started two small fires in the main landing gear, the spokesman said.

Thai Airways earlier said the plane with 240 passengers were on board burst two tyres on landing, but nobody was hurt.

"The aircraft landed at seven minutes past 12 (12.07pm AEST) in very heavy crosswinds and blew two tyres," spokeswoman Sue Marr said.

The airport was closed to air traffic for two hours, the Airservices Australia spokesman said.

Both runways are expected to be reopen by 5pm (AEST).

A total of 12 planes were diverted to Sydney, Essendon, Avalon and Adelaide airports, while an unknown number were delayed.

All 240 passengers on board were evacuated from the plane and taken to the airport terminal, the spokesman said.

"All passengers and crew were evacuated by bus and taken to the terminal," he said.

Later, Melbourne Airport issued a statement saying aircraft operations had recommenced.

It said passengers' relatives were advised to contact Thai Airways for further information.

"The temporary suspension of operations will impact on other scheduled flights," it said.

Those seeking up-to-date information on flight arrival and departure times should check www.melbourneairport.com.au

Passengers said the plane was "fish-tailing" down the runway during the heavy landing.

Graham O'Donohoe, 45, from the bayside suburb of Mordialloc, said he watched the landing on his inflight seat-mounted television.

"In the last few hundred feet, the plane lurched over and, based on what I was looking at on the camera, the runway was over there," he said indicating the plane was diagonal to the runway.

"We hit the tarmac too hard.

"It was all pretty calm but fish-tailing gets a bit scary."

Mr O'Donohoe said no-one screamed in the plane but there were a few "oohs and ahs".

The Melbourne businessman said he'd flown hundreds of times but this was the worst landing he'd experienced.

"It was like a roller coaster," he said.

Danny Wong, 33, from the Mornington Peninsula, was returning from a holiday in Thailand.

He said he feared for his infant daughter's safety as he held her in his lap.

"We got thrown from side to side," he said, adding it was the roughest landing he had experienced.

Passengers leaving the stricken plane also took photographs showing a small hole in the plane's fuselage, possibly caused by tyre debris.

The incident shut the runway from midday until 1.55pm (AEST), causing all international and domestic flights to be cancelled or postponed.

[simcity]

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/air...0291436296.html

my friends was due to arrive at 11 pm toight , they jus ring me to say plane has been delay for three hours !

Edited October 26, 2005 by simcity

[ilyushin]

Hard landing in an A340! Wow that is or was a perfectly new aircraft.

AOG-24 hrs?

[Old Croc]

Thai Landing

Vision of the landing can be seen here. (I hope)

[george]

All passengers and crew safe from THAI plane accident in Melbourne

BANGKOK: -- Passengers and crew members on board a Thai Airways International (THAI) plane whose main wheel burst in the Australian city of Melbourne on Wednesday are all safe, the national flag carrier has confirmed.

THAI's Acting President Somchainuk Engtrakul told TNA that all the 260 passengers and crew of the THAI's Air Bus 340-600 aircraft--TG981 flight, Bangkok-Melbourne route--were safely transferred to a passenger terminal of the Melbourne International Airport.

"There are no people injured from the accident and the plane itself is being fixed with no serious damage," he noted.

The plane was taxing on a taxi way after smoothly passing through a runway when its main wheel No.1 burst with a spiral of smoke but no fire, said Mr. Somchainuk.

"The incident was quickly spotted by the airport's air traffic control tower which immediately sent fire engines to put out the smoke in minutes", he revealed.

Mr. Somchainuk praised the airport's air traffic control tower for the prompt action.

The plane left Bangkok at 00:15 a.m. early Wednesday morning, while the incident took place at 11:59 a.m. Wednesday (local time), he noted.

The acting THAI chief said that the national airline's aircraft did not seek an emergency landing, and that the accident was a normal incident of the internantional airline business.

"The plane is new, equipped with modern technology and high safety standardized systems," he affirmed.

THAI, however, has cancelled its TG982 flight--the return flight of the TG981 flight--earlier scheduled to leave the Melbourne International Airport at 04:20 p.m. and arrive at the Bangkok International Airport at 10:40 p.m. Wednesday.

"All passengers are requested to fly to Bangkok via the THAI's TG980 flight instead, leaving the Melbourne International Airport at 00:15 a.m. Thursday (local time) and arrive at the Bangkok International Airport at 08:30 a.m.," said the acting THAI chief.

--TNA 2005-10-26

[Maestro]

It was in strong crosswinds..

It takes an exceptionally good pilot instinctively to do the right thing in such situation, usually pull through if it’s not too late and attempt a new landing.

Edited October 26, 2005 by maestro

[womble]

"The plane was taxing on a taxi way after smoothly passing through a runway when its main wheel No.1 burst with a spiral of smoke but no fire, said Mr. Somchainuk."

Just wondering who we should believe the Thai air acting president, or the spokes person for Melbourne international airport?

"Hydraulic fluid had leaked onto hot metal, which started two small fires in the main landing gear, the spokesman said."

Also

"The plane was taxing on a taxi way after smoothly passing through a runway when its main wheel No.1 burst with a spiral of smoke but no fire, said Mr. Somchainuk."

However the spokesman reckons it hadn't passed through the runway, it was stuck on it!

"He said the plane had now been towed off one of the runways, which was now operational again."

Thai air say:

"The plane left Bangkok at 00:15 a.m. early Wednesday morning, while the incident took place at 11:59 a.m. Wednesday (local time), he noted"

Whilst another spokesperson for the airport reckons:

The aircraft landed at seven minutes past 12 (12.07pm AEST) in very heavy crosswinds and blew two tyres," spokeswoman Sue Marr said.

Hmm, seems to be a little confusion over what, where and when this incident occured.

Quick it's face saving time

[AsiaWolfie]

now this is the 3rd very big and severe problem THAI AIR had within a few months (after the Zürich incident and the emergency landing of the Munich flight in Sharjah lately). THAI AIR can definitely not be considered a safe airline these days.... its just a question of time when a real crash will happen....

[VanZam]

Crosswind = Wind blowing accross the runway and not down it. (very common)

Plane tires blowing out at international airports happen on a dialy basis, and is not as some of you discribe it as "a big severe problem".

Media hype at its best.

Edited October 26, 2005 by VanZam

[chuchok]

Crosswind = Wind blowing accross the runway and not down it. (very common)

Plane tires blowing out at international airports happen on a dialy basis, and is not as some of you discribe it as "a big severe problem".

Media hype at its best.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Anybody who has landed at Wellington Airport in NZ on a regular basis, can tell you all about strong cross winds.Happens all the time and is not a nice thing to go through.

Never known an Aircfaft to gouge out part of the runway though....

[RamTodatry]

How many fingers do Australians have in Australia?

How many fingers do Thai have in Australia?

How many fingers do reporters have who are reporting on thi story from Australia?

Wake up people - the weather conditions were completely different between this incident and the one in Toronto, both the same model of the Airbus. No need to slam France. Let's be objective.

Mainly this points to a maintenance problem, although UN-authorized overloading of the aircraft (**** figure it out), would be a factor as the tire(or tires) seems to have been over-inlated, or (OK, let's blamw the pilot) maybe the pilot dropped it on the tarmac too hard.

Glad everyone is safe.

[ssscud]

From the looks of the video it seems the wind blew the plane sidways just before landing during descent. At that speed, landing sideways the tires are pretty much expected to blow out. So i would think this can happen to any plane from any country. So darn lucky no one was hurt. Kuddos to the thai pilots for handling the landing so well

All passengers and crew safe from THAI plane accident in Melbourne 

BANGKOK: -- Passengers and crew members on board a Thai Airways International (THAI) plane whose main wheel burst in the Australian city of Melbourne on Wednesday are all safe, the national flag carrier has confirmed.

THAI's Acting President Somchainuk Engtrakul told TNA that all the 260 passengers and crew of the THAI's Air Bus 340-600 aircraft--TG981 flight, Bangkok-Melbourne route--were safely transferred to a passenger terminal of the Melbourne International Airport.

"There are no people injured from the accident and the plane itself is being fixed with no serious damage," he noted.

The plane was taxing on a taxi way after smoothly passing through a runway when its main wheel No.1 burst with a spiral of smoke but no fire, said Mr. Somchainuk.

"The incident was quickly spotted by the airport's air traffic control tower which immediately sent fire engines to put out the smoke in minutes", he revealed.

Mr. Somchainuk praised the airport's air traffic control tower for the prompt action.

The plane left Bangkok at 00:15 a.m. early Wednesday morning, while the incident took place at 11:59 a.m. Wednesday (local time), he noted.

The acting THAI chief said that the national airline's aircraft did not seek an emergency landing, and that the accident was a normal incident of the internantional airline business.

"The plane is new, equipped with modern technology and high safety standardized systems," he affirmed.

THAI, however, has cancelled its TG982 flight--the return flight of the TG981 flight--earlier scheduled to leave the Melbourne International Airport at 04:20 p.m. and arrive at the Bangkok International Airport at 10:40 p.m. Wednesday.

"All passengers are requested to fly to Bangkok via the THAI's TG980 flight instead, leaving the Melbourne International Airport at 00:15 a.m. Thursday (local time) and arrive at the Bangkok International Airport at 08:30 a.m.," said the acting THAI chief.

--TNA 2005-10-26

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[Heng]

Sucks to get that first scratch on a brand new automobile.

[MaiChai]

I fly in and out of Phitsanulok every week or two with Thai to/from Bangkok, and the landings are always hard at Phitsanulok airport. I also notice looking round the cabin that I am not the only one to breath a sign of relief when we have landed and are rolling up the runway, so I figure its a regular occurrance? It must be a matter of time before they burst a tyre there? Just an observation.

[MaiChai]

THAI Clarifies Tyre Burst in Melbourne

Mr. Somchainuk Engtrakul, Board Member Acting as President of Thai Airways International Public Company Limited, announced a clarification regarding an incident involving its Airbus A340-600, flight TG981, on the route Bangkok - Melbourne.

THAI's flight TG981, utilizing Airbus A340-600 aircraft, on the route Bangkok - Melbourne, departed from Bangkok at 00.15 hours on 26 October 2005 and arrived in Melbourne, Australia, at 11.59 hours (local time). While approaching Melbourne International Airport, the main wheel no.1 burst and resulted in a hydraulic blue system leak. The tower control observed the incident and sent the airport safety fire crews to extinguish sparks in the undercarriage, resulting in smoke. At the time, the aircraft was on the runway in the process of taxiing as it had entered the taxiway. The tower control required the aircraft to be parked and sent a microbus to transport the 260 passengers and crew, who were transported to the terminal with no injuries. The aircraft concerned was not much affected, the tyre was replaced, and the aircraft was towed to the hangar. THAI's Technical Department is currently investigating the aircraft concerned.

Flight TG982, on the route Melbourne - Bangkok, was cancelled as a result of the incident, as the flight was to be operated with the aircraft concerned with departure originally set for 16.20 hours (local time) and arrive in Bangkok at 22.40 hours, today (26 October 2005). The company will send the aircraft operating flight TG980, on the route Sydney - Melbourne - Phuket - Bangkok to transport passengers of flight TG982, with departure from Melbourne at 00.15 hours on 27 October (local time) and arrival in Bangkok at 08.30 hours on 27 October 2005.

Source:

http://www.thaiair.com/About_Thai/Newsroom...s1005-wu367.htm

Edited October 26, 2005 by george

[schmokinn]

must be using remoulds , all part of the costcutting.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

for your information all tyres are remoulded on planes no matter what airline or country!!

[OZONE]

Thats a bit scary. My plans were to come back to BKK in April via Thai Airways, not sure anymore. This kind of news just gives me the creeps. My wife will surely not like hearing this news so I guess I better just hush

Any suggestion(s) to a safer airline from New York to BKK?. Note: Thai airways on the A340 takes 17.5 hrs

[cathyy]

Ok, 12 years in the US Air Force as an aircraft mechanic/crew chief...for some credibility here. I worked on planes as small as a lear jet and as large as a B-52.

Underinflated tires are more likely to blow out than overinflated tires. When the weight an aircraft is carrying is increased, the tire pressure is also increased. Perhaps the plane was overloaded, as one person suggested, at least for the tire pressure, even if the load was within the plane's operating limits.

Landing in a crosswind is merely very tricky; landing in a crosswind that changes from 10 or 15 miles and hour to being 50 or 60 miles an hour is darn near impossible. Someone previously mentioned aborting the landing as the pilot's best choice if he encounters a bad crosswind. This is true. However, a sudden change in the crosswind could cause the plane to suddenly lose altitude, and if the plane was almost landing when that happened it could smack it down onto the runway. A crosswind also does want to shift the plane in the air. Remember how your car would swerve on the highway when a gust of high winds would hit it? Or even the air turbulence from a semi?

I too think the air crew did a superior job of landing this plane under bad circumstances.

Is Phitsanulok surrounded by mountains? Mountains screw up the smooth air flow and create lots of unpredictable air tubulence. I recall landing in Chiang Mai once when it was windy...no fun indeed.

[Maejo Man]

Oh poo I'm scheduled on TG-981 in a few weeks, but was told the plane was an MD-11, a spare pair of undies in the carry on luggage perhaps

[cathyy]

Any suggestion(s) to a safer airline from New York to BKK?.  Note: Thai airways on the A340 takes 17.5 hrs

NOT Northwest. Their mechanics went on strike, so they hired scabs, but the scabs were all qualified. Working on planes takes an FAA license. However, they replaced 4500 mechanics with 1200 or so. The FAA has stepped up their inspections of the planes, and the inspectors are finding many many problems with the maintenance work being done. Issues caused by overwork and lack of time. I would not recommend anyone fly Northwest for anything at this point.