Delta 757 Loses Nosewheel on Runway
 

Nose wheel falls off Boeing 757 airliner waiting for takeoff

A nose wheel fell off a Delta Air Lines Boeing 757 passenger jet and rolled away as the plane lined up for takeoff over the weekend from Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson international airport in the US, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

According to a preliminary FAA notice, none of the 184 passengers or six crew members aboard were hurt in the incident.

The report said the aircraft was lining up and waiting for takeoff when the “nose wheel came off and rolled down the hill”.

The plane had been scheduled to fly to Bogotá, Colombia, and Delta said the passengers were put on a replacement flight, according to the New York Times, which broke the story late on Tuesday.

The newspaper said Boeing declined to comment and directed questions to the airline. The FAA told the newspaper it was continuing its investigation of the incident….

"you took a fine time to leave me, loose wheel... "

Not the first time, won't be the last time.

The Washington Post has an article about t his incident.

Their headline is the same as here, but the article quotes spokesmen saying tha a "tyre" came off the nosewheel.

So who knows ??

IB

Is this something that should have been seen during a walk around inspection before flight?

Yes, it's normal to count the wheels and see if they reach the pre-determined number.

But surely there'll be a +/- margin of error?

On ATC audio, another aircraft confirms that the “wheel and tire” departed the nose gear.

This incident occurred during day light hours. If at night, would it have been noticed? Would a 757 give any indication during take-off roll and subsequent gear retraction of a missing nose gear wheel?

Bit of shimmy may be.
No TPIS on the 757 so probably no indication at all.

This news report was posted on Global news.https://globalnews.ca/news/10246902/...light-atlanta/

Unlikely to notice much, hydraulic powered steering rams and if already lined up only small rudder bar steering inputs.
1970's, LHR runway inspection found a nose wheel and part axle, worked out it was an L1011 of our fleet; advised aircraft and a full emergency declared at home base; Capt Jock made a perfect landing and roll out, after inspection, de-planing, we towed aircraft to maintenance; axle had a fracture and sheared.

In the embedded Twitter video in the post #9 link, it appears the right nose gear tire/wheel is missing. The side loads imposed by a 757 turning to the right upon entering the departure runway would drive the right nose gear tire/wheel off the axle if improperly installed.