@jcj:
Could you humour me and tell me the sources you're quoting there?
As pointed out up-thread, in the wake of the '79 Dulles incident a modification was made to prevent tyres failing in the same way (in this case by improper inflation). In other instances of tyre failures where the cause was investigated, more modifications were made. It's commonly (and erroneously) reported that little or nothing was done to prevent tyre failures between the '79 incident and the loss of F-BTSC, but the fact is that modification work was ongoing and procedures put in place several times in the intervening years to minimise risk (for example, forbidding use of re-tread tyres, BA's deflector modification and the extra inflation monitoring equipment mentioned above).
All these modifications and procedures, along with the dates they were implemented, are listed in the BEA report on F-BTSC.
Additionally, every prior incident of tyre failure that led to fuel tank damage consisted of debris directly piercing the fuel tank from outside, causing either no significant fuel leakage or minor leakage that presented practically no risk of ignition. The fuel tank damage due to fluid compression happened for the first and only time on F-BTSC. Arguably this should have been considered before, but it was a little-known phenomenon at the time.
Last edited by DozyWannabe; 22nd Dec 2012 at 03:05.