1979 Concorde Incident - blown tires

[Zeke]

Does anyone have further information on this incident ?

http://www.aviationpics.de/preview/tzimages(1).jpg

http://www.aviationpics.de/preview/tzimages(2).jpg

http://www.aviationpics.de/preview/tzimages.jpg

[Royan]

In 1981, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board reported four "potentially catastrophic" incidents resulting from blown out tires during Concorde takeoffs between June 1979 and February 1981.

The most serious occurred in June 1979 at Dulles airport outside Washington, D.C.

As a Concorde was taking off, two tires on the main left landing gear blew out and tire debris and wheel shrapnel damaged the No. 2 engine and punctured three fuel tanks. A large hole was torn in the wing.

The plane returned to the airport for an emergency landing with fuel pouring from the wing. Design modifications were made after the incident, along with an NTSB recommendation that landing gear not be retracted if a blowout occurs and that any plane suffering a blowout immediately return for an emergency landing at the airport where it took off

[Flight Safety]

Try this link.

http://www.bea-fr.org/anglaise/concorde-en.html

The Interim report of the July 2000 crash of the Concorde contains a good detailed description of the 1979 Dulles incident.

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Safe flying to you...

[Smurfjet]

This same letter has been discussed before on PPRuNe a while back...