Air Malta emergency at GLA

[LTNman]

As reported to a newsgroup by someone with a scanner

'Air Malta 197 with 2 burst tyres and a hydraulic leak will be returning to GLA...... 'Seems one maybe two tyres burst on takeoff, part of the debris has damaged part of the hydraulic system and there is a leak. The aircraft is burning off fuel before attempting an emergency landing. Rescue 177 (from PIK) at airfield. Shortly to make a low go around so that ground crew can try to assess damage........ This is on going with the aircraft yet to land.

[390cruise]

If it is a b737 then the chances are it lost the tread off the tyre rather than a 'burst'

[LTNman]

Air Malta flight KM197 will be landing at around 22.00 local if the guys clock on his computer is accurate.

[LTNman]

From the BBC

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/3619848.stm

An Air Malta flight is circling Glasgow Airport to burn up fuel before making an emergency landing.
Airport operator BAA said the Boeing 737, with 143 people on board, suffered hydraulic failure on take-off.

Emergency services have been placed on stand-by and a Royal Navy search and rescue helicopter has been sent to the scene.

More soon.

BAA spokesman Malcolm Robertson said full-scale emergency procedures have been activated at the airport.

..................................

An Air Malta plane carrying 143 passengers is making an emergency landing at Glasgow Airport, an airport spokesman said.

The captain of the aircraft, mainly carrying holiday-makers, called a state of emergency after it experienced problems with the undercarriage shortly after take-off from Glasgow at 7.30pm.

All emergency services were tonight on stand-by as the crew prepared to land back at the airport almost three hours after becoming air-bourne.

Now due 22.30

[flybyday]

http://news.bbc.co.uk reporting on its front page ticker:

"Passenger jet preparing to make emergency landing at Glasgow Airport. More Soon"

[FLEXJET]

Good news: the 737 landed safely.
After 3 hours???

[LTNman]

Scanner man reports "Landed Safely at 2225 - passengers disembarked on the runway"

[eng1170]

A text book touch down which seemed very smooth for an aircraft with 2 burst tires and a hydraulic leak. Was still on the runway with emergency services in attendance at 2320, although I have since heard aircraft depart at 2355.

Excellent job by the crew if the news reports are correct and glad all on board are o.k.

Well done to all involved.

Eng

[Eff Oh]

There was a Scottish broadcast as we were all in the hold at LANAK stating that the aircaft had evacuated on the runway, and that the runway was contaminated with hydraulic fluid. This prompted some, if not all of us to divert to EDI. Did the a/c evacuate or not??? Glad everyone was OK. As we parked next to the Air Malta in GLA it was still leaking fluid at 2330(L). Good job well done by the looks of it!!:ok:
Eff Oh

[nosewheelfirst]

I had a wander around the aircraft today and the tyre seems intact so it could have been the tread as mentioned earlier.

Most of the passengers left today on the A320 with a free-bar :)

[eng1170]

Indeed no.2 tire has lost all tread from shoulder to shoulder and has a hole on outbd side (brake side) but is still on the hub although the bead has broken away from rim at brake side.

Aftflap is pretty mangled, midflap has panel damage, and a dent in the leading edge at the inbd foreflap support track cut-out, and the foreflap has a dent in the leading edge adjacent to the support track at the inbd end. The falsework directly above the main wheel is punctured/buckled. There are rubber marks on the no.1 eng inbd fan cowl, fuselage fwd of the wing leading edge, fuselage aft of the trailing edge a couple of feet below the pax windows and also on the lower surface of the stab! (tread separation on rotation?).

A couple of pipes were split around the L/h gear transfer valve hence loss of hydraulic pressure/fluid and the whole wheel well is swimming in skydrol!

Hopefully she will be back flying by the end of the weekend though, and it's alway's good to know the situation was so well handled and got full support from all at GLA!

Nice one,

Eng

[cirrus01]

BA had a similar event to this one, sometime last year.........

It took about two weeks to fix then, mainly the repairs to the Flaps and replacement of the Gear doors......


With the itroduction of the fantastic computer system of EWS ( Engineering Without Spares )
Just think how long it would take BA to do the same thing now !!!

They would just park it up and use it as a source of spares !....just like OCZ,

:\ :\ :\

[Nerik]

I'd like to congratulate my 2 colleagues on bringing a potentially iffy situation to a good ending. All people walked away unscathed. Well done lads!

[eng1170]

cirrus01, who'said BA aren't fixing the Air Malta 737? After all is GLA not there main 737 base!!!!!

Eng

Also heard that OCZ is being readied for op\'s!!!

[cirrus01]

It would make sense if Air Malta get BA to repair their 737. Bit of extra revenue for BA...... and yes you're right that OCZ is being brought back to service.......if they can stop robbing it !!!! its wanted at LHR ,due to their many grounded aircraft.

Ba still leasing the Titan aircraft ??? :uhoh:

[mr Q]

Last Updated: Thursday, 2 September, 2004, 12:07 GMT 13:07 UK

Honeymoon pair in aircraft alert


The Air Malta flight lands at Glasgow Airport
A Northern Ireland couple have told of their terror after a plane taking them on honeymoon was at the centre of a safety alert in Scotland.
Newlyweds Colin, 29, and Joy Walker, 28, from County Down, were on an Air Malta Boeing 737 which burst a tyre during take-off from Glasgow Airport.

Emergency services stood by as the plane circled the airport for three hours before landing safely.

Mr Walker said: "I was just overcome with relief when it stopped."

The crew had reported a suspected problem with a tyre when Air Malta Flight KM197, with 137 passengers and five crew on board, took off at 1936 BST on Wednesday.

The passengers were put up in a hotel overnight and finally left Glasgow at 1100 BST on Thursday.

Mr Walker from Bangor said: "The passengers had been told to go into the brace position for the landing.

These guys have been through a difficult experience. They have been through a trauma

BAA spokesman

"It was a really rocky landing - the worst I have been on.

"My head was against the seat in front of me. I just wanted the plane to stop.

"It seemed like it was going on for ages."

An Air Malta spokesman said the crew followed "standard procedure" after suffering loss of pressure in the tyre.

He said: "It is not hugely common but it is not uncommon either.

"There was still a good tyre on the main landing gear and the pilot was able to land safely according to standard procedure.

"The crew are well trained for such incidents and we are always pleased that they carry out their duties accordingly."

A BAA spokesman said the passengers had been through a frightening ordeal but no-one was physically injured.


Helicopters involved

He said: "These guys have been through a difficult experience. They have been through a trauma."

The passengers were taken off the aircraft and escorted to a secure area at the side of the airfield. No-one was reported to be injured.

There was relief among the stranded passengers as they filed into the international arrival hall after the aircraft landed.

Strathclyde Fire Brigade sent eight fire engines, a turntable ladder, a heavy recovery vehicle and technical support units to assist the on-site airport crews during the incident.

Police and RAF helicopters were also involved in the operation.

RELATED INTERNET LINKS:
BAA
Air Malta
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites

[eng1170]

That being the 73 with multi colour blue artwork? Yes it was about yesterday.

[A300Man]

Why didnt it come back for an emergency landing into PIK, so as to minimise disruption at GLA? Assume this would have been related to the significant emergency service available closer at Glasgow City?

[Runway 31]

They would have got the same response from the emergency services at Prestwick.

I would assume that it landed at Glasgow for operational reasons whatever they would be.

[smallpilot]

can someone explain the phrase "the plane circled the airport..." etc.... so beloved by the media.
In this case the media stated it was for 3 hours, its been similar in other such incidents.
Does ATC literally ask the plane to hold above the airport? Is the a/c directed to a designated hold? Sorry, just curious?

[Bally Heck]

Burning fuel Smallpilot. Can't jettison in a 73, and probably not a good idea to land overweight with potential gear/tyre problems

[eng1170]

A/c still at Glasgow today, Sun 5th!!

[smallpilot]

Bally Heck...
I appreciate the fuel burn thing, its just I wondered what the procedure was - literally circle above the field? or go to a designated hold? (eg LAM if it was for LHR etc ?)

[Jerricho]

Smallpilot from an ATC point of view, if an A/c requires to hold off to burn fuel (or other reasons - checklists etc), the best place for it would be in a position where it won't get in the way of other arrivals/departures (Unfortunately, the LAM hold at LHR wouldn't be the most ideal place). Other considerations would be given the navigational equipment of the aircraft and surrounding nav-aids if they were required. And depending on the problem, I wouldn't want it too far from the field should the problem deteriorate into a situation where a quick return could be necessary.

[BALIX]

It held at the GOW VOR (which is on the airfield) at FL80 which, when you think about it, is pretty much out of the way of inbounds and outbounds who would be lower in that vicinity. Therefore, in this instance, the press was more or less right when they said he was circling the airfield though it was more of an extended racetrack pattern than a circle :bored:

[Dan319]

No one has yet mentioned that KM suffered a similar tyre problem at MLA 1 month ago, also a 733. Had to circle the island for 3 hrs followed by an emergency landing. Thankfully everyone was ok.

[eng1170]

How common are tread separation incident's compared to loss of the whole tyre? I know there are loads of reasons that can affect it, e.g poor inflation/pressure monitoring, no. of previous retreads (there are limits 4 or 5 I think), tyre damage, FOD on taxi/runway.

How often do they happen? Should the no. of retreads be reduced?

Just curious,

Eng

[Fanny Batter]

No one has yet mentioned that KM suffered a similar tyre problem at MLA 1 month ago

Aircraft tyres in storage at Air Malta withdrawn

http://www.timesofmalta.com/core/article.php?id=163961

[TheShadow]

Aircraft tyres in storage at Air Malta withdrawn

and No one has yet mentioned that KM suffered a similar tyre problem at MLA 1 month ago

Not the same Capt LEADFOOT in both incidents I suppose?

Throwing away the sus batches of tyres may work but I've also found that continually preaching "Toe-brakes off and heels to floor" at the appropriate moment (initial take-off roll) also kept tyre-bursts on take-off to a minimum.

Like sidesticks, it's one of those things that are hard to monitor in an F/O, whether you're a Line Captain, Check Captain, Flight Instructor or Sim Instructor.

As a Flight Safety Officer I noted that the tyre-bursts never seemed to happen during touch and go evolutions, always on initial take-offs and frequently to the same individual.

I'd be having those tires checked out before throwing them on the dump. There may be nothing wrong with them.

So having said that, I wonder how many other tyre-bursts on take-off are related to leaving toes up on toe-brakes (heels NOT on the floor)?

[HotDog]

You can't be serious Shadow, what kind of airplanes did you ever fly? No experienced pilot would ever start his take off run with his feet firmly planted on the rudder pedals, activating the toe brakes unless it was a max power takeoff and you stood on the brakes till T/O power was established. Most other take offs are rolling ones and there is no way any pilot would keep his heels off the ground. I experienced about three burst tyre incidents during max weight T/O runs in very hot conditions in BKK and DUB which did a lot of ancilliary damage but I can assure you, nobody had their feet on the top of the pedals.

[Eff Oh]

I am sure that the Flight Data Recorder would be able to tell if the brakes were applied or not. I am also pretty sure that Air Malta would have had a look at the FDR post incident, if just to verify the crew's info on what happened and when. I doubt they would be throwing away a load of tyres (which aint cheap) if the toe brakes had been applied causing the failure. Finaly, I think that if someone applied toe brakes to that extent (enough to cause a tyre failure) the decelleration would be highly evident. You would have read something about it in the pax reports and the flight crew would be well aware of what had caused it.
Eff Oh.

[TheShadow]

HotDog said No experienced pilot would ever start his take off run with his feet firmly planted on the rudder pedals, activating the toe brakes unless it was a max power takeoff and you stood on the brakes till T/O power was established. Not sure what this statement has to do with a neophyte just failing to get his heels to the floor after brake release and later inadvertently applying brake with rudder. That involuntary toe action is an unfortunate result of over-extending the leg with a fullish rudder application (particularly if rudder pedal adjustment is not optimal and some stretch is involved).
and
Most other take offs are rolling ones and there is no way any pilot would keep his heels off the ground. Line up and hold before you make such a Sweeping statement.

Eff Oh said I am sure that the Flight Data Recorder would be able to tell if the brakes were applied or not. I am also pretty sure that Air Malta would have had a look at the FDR post incident, if just to verify the crew's info on what happened and when. I'm not so sure that the regulatory authority would be pulling DFDR's and analyzing them for evidence in the case of a tyre burst (or the operator voluntarily pulling an FDR to send along for the regulator's analysis. Pilots are blowing tyres with monotonous regularity and it's normally taken to be just another serviceability glitch. The assumption is normally (for take-off incidents) that they are worn, faulty or flat-spotted....or that the flight-crew might have miscued. Doubt that such info goes on the QAR for FOQA/FDM analysis. Even if pilots are aware of what actually happened, it's frequently relegated to something that's then kept between themselves. With a lot of low-time right-seaters around without nosewheel steering, it's always a distinct possibility. They just don't realise the possibilities, nor that they're doing it. It's also easy to miss from the IP's seat.
and
I doubt they would be throwing away a load of tyres (which ain't cheap) if the toe brakes had been applied causing the failure. You might be surprised at the assumptions that are made after a rash of such apparent tech-failure incidents. The tyre throw-away PR release may just be a way of reassuring the travelling public that it was indeed materiel failure (whether or not they're aware that it may not have been). Air Malta has had so many fiascos already this year they are likely to be hyper-PR sensitive. It's a little island....and with a restricted clientele.
and
Finally, I think that if someone applied toe brakes to that extent (enough to cause a tyre failure) the deceleration would be highly evident. You would have read something about it in the pax reports and the flight crew would be well aware of what had caused it. Unfortunately you couldn't be more wrong here. At speed when the aircraft is accelerating and the aircraft is light on its main-gear (and perhaps with the nosewheel airborne) an inadvertent partial toe-brake application, made because of leg/ankle geometry, doesn't produce identifiable deceleration, any significant swerve nor any evolution that the pax would notice. What it can do is stop a lightly-loaded wheel and mow much tread off the tyre very quickly because of that. I was very much aware of it during 4eng conversion flights and I'd always take the student later for a close examination of what he'd done to a good set of tyres. It's easily done and you frequently come quite close to running right through your rubber.

TS

[320DRIVER]

Before the arm-chair experts continue imagining these fanciful theories, you might takes some time and look at,

http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_avsafety/documents/page/dft_avsafety_030888.hcsp

and,

http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_avsafety/documents/page/dft_avsafety_030889.hcsp

... to see some likely events leading to tyre failure, rather than conjure and speculate on unfounded theories blaming the pilots.

[nosewheelfirst]

It was a right turn on to the active ruway and it was the right tyre that lost its tread...

I saw he pilot as he got on th return flight looking vrp pleasedwith himself :cool:

[eng1170]

It was a right turn on to the active ruway and it was the right tyre that lost its tread...

Mmmm, not so sure about that..... the aircraft recovered on runway 23, and all aircraft departing up to this point departed from 23, which if he departed in the same manner earlier in the evening means the final turn for line-up would be a left turn. I personally don't remember a runway change during that evening but I could be wrong.

I can definetly say that the tyre that blew was NOT the r/h but the L/H INBD, this I have no doubt over whatsoever.

Eng

[HotDog]

Shadow, how many burst tyre or thread separation incidents have you actually, personally experienced whilst operating an aircraft? We lost a Convair 880 into Hong Kong harbour when a nosewheel thread seperated during the takoff run. We stopped using re-threads on nosewheels after that. If you want to see some damaged tyres without brake assistance, have a look at the following:

http://pub15.bravenet.com/photocenter/album.php?img=59495&usernum=1228905798

http://pub15.bravenet.com/photocenter/album.php?img=59496&usernum=1228905798

http://pub15.bravenet.com/photocenter/album.php?img=59497&usernum=1228905798

http://pub15.bravenet.com/photocenter/album.php?img=59497&usernum=1228905798

None of the above tre failures were caused by inadvertent brake application.

[TheShadow]

320driver

Accept your examples of the two EMB145's (G-EMBD and G-EMBL).
(....and so couldn't agree more that running tyres under-inflated and leaking fuse-plugs and possibly a host of other causes might also cause tyre failure. I'm not even saying that these are exceptions to any sort of rule. Just suggesting that there can be other non-technical reasons for tyre failure and that they can remain undetected as causes - not looking for a bun-fight. What I have experienced and seen was over a lengthy period of introducing junior woodchucks to 4 engine airplanes. It was a common foot-fault error, particularly during asymmetrics.

Hotdog
Your imagery links are corrupted.
"Thread" separation is what we are now experiencing - but to address your question, mostly severe tyre flatspots..... but I have observed some blown tyres particularly during t/off asymmetrics and wet runway operations. When you get two tyres blowing simultaneously on the same side, take-off or landing, it's normally a Captain Leadfoot doing his thing. In my experience it's quite unlikely that an adjacent tyre will be taken out by a tyre blowing.

Nobody is suggesting that retreads shouldn't be used. The technique is quite capable of producing quite serviceable tyres.

[Eff Oh]

The Shadow, we are not just talking about a tyre burst here. The damage from the first incident caused a hydraulic leak to the extent that the runway was closed for a period in order to clear the fluid from the runway. In this case I am sure the FDR WOULD be looked at, not only by the operator, but by the AAIB. As for "pilots bursting tyres with monotonous regularty" well I never have and I don't know of anyone who has either. I am not suggesting of course that it does not happen, but not to the extent you imply. If you are experiencing this a lot in your company then perhaps you have a training issue??

[Algy]

...all Air Malta incident tyres on their way to Boeing...

[CaptainSandL]

Latest news...


Air Malta incident back in Scottish media
By MaltaMedia News
Feb 11, 2005, 11:30 CET

Investigations on Air Malta incident last September show that the burst tyre, which caused the accident, was nearly fully worn, scotmans newspaper reports. According to the report, debris from the tyre damaged the Boeing 737’s hydraulic system, which lead to a loss of fluid and several flaps.

The incident had sparked a major Glasgow airport alert as the Air Malta jet, with 137 passengers and 5 crewmembers on board had to circle the airport for nearly three hours to burn off fuel before landing safely.

The Scottish media reported that the Department for Transport’s air accident investigation branch report stated, "the most concerning aspect of the tread failure was the piece of debris which had become lodged near to the control cables for the spoilers and ailerons [hinged flaps] on the left wing. This had the potential to result in a control restriction during a critical phase of flight."

The report also showed that the tyre had probably reached its ultimate fatigue limit at an earlier age than predicted by the sample testing of other tyres. However, the investigators made no recommendations in the report because the airline has made several safety improvements to prevent a recurrence.

These included limiting aircraft tyres to three retreads, improving tyre checks and briefing flight crews.

http://www.maltamedia.com/news/2005/ln/article_5089.shtml

[Freeway]

Well if you want to see a few worn tyres then look no further than some of the Bulgarian charter operators. Worn is an understatement.

[Runway 31]

The article in the Scotsman mentioned by CaptainSandL said that the report noted that the tyre had 6 re-treads. Is this normal for aircraft tyres?.