Continental ERJ-145 Emergency at IAH

[GoToGate]

A Continental ERJ145 (was en route IAH - MSP) is preparing to make an emergency landing at IAH. Left main gear tyre blew on take off. Live pictures on local TV now. Has already made two go-arounds. Fingers crossed.

[kabz]

Not go-arounds, fly-bys. Plane circling IAH, burning off fuel now. Best wishes with the pilot.

[GoToGate]

Thanks for the correction Kabz - I'm just humble SLF. 45 pax and 3 crew on board. Will land on runway 09. Good luck to all on board again.

[mickjoebill]

Live video here

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news&id=3870769

Mickjoebill

[Consol]

Haven't seen the tv but a tyre blowing out is not a big deal. Its just the media in a frenzy whipping up "near death escape stories", All will be well.
Don't take too much notice of tv and read a few good books now and then.

[gordonroxburgh]

Both tyres blown on port gear.

[GoToGate]

Pleased to say all down safely - hardly a spark!

Well done to the crew:ok:

[malc4d]

landed all ok

[kabz]

Fabulous. Looked like a shuttle landing. Nosewheel on the centerline all the way. Awesome.

[Ontariotech]

Smooooooooth.

[gordonroxburgh]

textbook landing, well done to all

[Consol]

Told you. Excellent job by an excellent crew. Interesting though, the first officer on that flight probably gets paid $15 000 a year and the Captain not much more. Maybe they're worth more than that.

[HowlingWind]

I happen to be in Houston at the mo and in fact was right in the middle of IAH when the incident became known a bit after 17:00 local. I have to say I was rather impressed by the level of response not only by the airport fire crews but also the city and area brigades. Local media, of course, verged on hysteria.

Landing was eventually shifted from 09 to 15. Flight crew did a cracking job. Just another landing, if one overlooked all the apparatus standing by. Well done. :ok:

[MarkD]

Consol

the local media are probably going "see, that's why pilots earn big bucks" :rolleyes:

[Middle Seat]

http://video.msn.com/v/us/msnbc.htm?g=944b8733-7d16-4547-b28e-773034ae9bc1&f=00&fg=copy

MSNBC feed with live landing and commentary between an anchorchick and a pilot. He did a good job of diffusing her implications of impending doom. I bet she was disappointed that the plane didn't go down in blazes, which would have been good for her career.

[Dash-7 lover]

When I saw the news report late last night on the BBC and they mentioned 'the gear' and Continental Express I immediately thought it was a 145, then went to bed as I wasn't too concerned. I wouldn't say it's a common problem with 145 wheels but it certainly is an issue that is connected with the type. I can recall several incidents of tyre blow-outs on takeoff, VRN and JER to name some - and the one that was more serious than most was in OSL where there was damage to flaps and engine fan blades and full emergency declared. Have to say that I believe there are certain extra checks in place in response to the various events.

[jondc9]

dash7lover and the rest:

yes, tire failure is always important, especially in planes with tail mounted engines.

I don't know if air france serves IAH. But wouldn't it be a great coincidence if an air france plane had left a piece of metal on the runway and the continental express plane blew the tires because of it? (reference to concorde tragedy which shows us all how important tires are)

I also wonder what the speed rating on these tires was, and the actual takeoff speed of the aircraft in question. It was very hot in houston, 29c. number of times retreaded might be interesting to know and a comparison to the remaining "good"tires on the right side.

I covered it for CNN on Wolf Blitzer's ''Situation Room'', but all of you seem to watch the other networks.


jon

[ExSimGuy]

$15,000 a year :eek:

I know I wouldn't like to stop my car from some 140 kts with both tires on one side blown:uhoh:

Damned good job guys :ok: (or ladies, as appropriate ;) )

(Edited to add) JonDC9 - Can't find anything on CNN web site about it now - though thre BBC web has a good pic as it rolls (to a stop?) looking like it landed on the wheel-rims. Again, great job.

[cwatters]

The video on MSNBC makes it look like a real non event. You can see two tyres missing on the left main on the flyby but the actual landing looks very smooth. No sparks, dead straight etc. Good job.

[jondc9]

in some ways it was a non event. well handled by all concerned. it is a nice thing to see skillful pros do their job.

As I mentioned before, it will be interesting to find out why the tires (tyre) blew in the first place.

are economics part of the equation?

certainly in the prederegulation days tires blew...but?

j

[vapilot2004]

Loss of both tires on one bogey suggests debris

- OR -

perhaps it was an overheat due to dragging brakes causing the wheel fuse plugs to blow, flattening the tires - which don't last long at takeoff speeds.

[jondc9]

here is the URL for the transcript from CNN coverage of the event.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0605/02/sitroom.03.html


the only thing I would really want to change is that subsequent images did show the right hand (starboard) thrust reverser deploying to assist in directional control. as this image was not available during live coverage, I would want to ammend the one statement near the end.

does anyone remember the dc10 tire problems about 20 years ago? anti skid lines hooked up backwards?

regards

jon

[HowlingWind]

jondc9:

Air France operates 777 daily service IAH-CDG. In fact, AF33 was scheduled to take off yesterday very, very close to the reported departure time of CO3161. It's very feasible they "crossed paths" so to speak, and yes, it would be highly ironic if some bits from the frogjet chewed up the tyres of the junglejet. :ouch:

As one who has spent perhaps too much time there, one submits that 29C isn't that hot -- for Houston. ;)

I didn't have access to a telly at the time all the emergency gear was whizzing by, but I did surf past CNN on the car's XM satellite radio. I didn't hear anything there, though CNN's Headline News was offering live coverage. Might that have been you on that channel? If so, well done! :ok:

[jondc9]

HI Howlingwind

and thanks for telling me about Air frances' flights out of IAH...and yes for HOUSTON 29c isn't that hot. I never knew what "humidity" meant until I went to Houston one summer.


I was speaking with Wolf Blitzer which is usually on regular CNN. So if you heard Wolf, you heard me. I do imagine headline cnn might have taken wolf's feed but am not sure.

all the best

jon

[HowlingWind]

jondc9:

If Wolf's show started at 7 p.m. EDT, I probably did miss it. Headline News was covering it before 5:30 p.m. local (6:30 p.m. EDT), though I believe they were just picking up a feed from one of the Houston stations.

Thanks for the transcript. It makes for good reading. :cool:

[FIRESYSOK]

You mean Wolf Blitzed? He's the worst. Sorry

[Ignition Override]

Middle Seat:

Exactly. Listen to the song by Don Henley, former Eagles singer.

The song is called "Dirty Laundry". "...she can tell you 'bout a plane crash, with a gleam in her eye...get the widow on the set, we need dirty laundry...".

The First Officer on that jet, if he/she has a spouse at home raising a baby, can often collect US government food stamps to help feed the family. And the dental/medical (non-covered) deductables are about 20%, in addition to the rest. But if he/she tells the media and it is reported, the pilot can be fired (sacked) from the job. This almost happened years ago to a pilot with Northwest Airlink.

[Middle Seat]

Granted it isn't as obnoxious as Fox, CNN=Circus News Network.

[brain fade]

It's very easy to miss a deflated tyre on the 145. This leaves the other tyre to do all the work and it wont last long.
Our company always changes both wheels if there is a deflation.
I've done at least one t/o and two ldgs on 3 mainwheels.

The trick is to keep an eye on the brake temps. If one is still at the bottom after you landed- you got a flat! It may well look normal-even if you kick it-on the walkround so that low brake temp is the only clue you get that you arte about to do a sector with three working tyres!!

[jondc9]

brainfade:

well said. when a tire looks flat, its the one next to it that is bad used to be one rule of thumb...I wish all planes had pressure gauges on the tires that could easily be seen while doing the walkaround and telemetered to the cockpit too.


MIDDLESEAT: one thing I would really like you and others on the forum to do is give specific methods of improving news coverage of aviation incidents etc as they happen.

Saying CNN isn't as obnoxious as FOX is high praise, but somthing meaningful would be helpful too.

Remember, MOST of the people watching the news are not ATP's or Mechanics or F/a's. And seeing a plane making a landing is cool, even if it looks as routine as any landing.

Please, help me help the news industry to do a better job.

the URL to the transcript is above, my apology for not seeing the right thrust reverser deploy is explained. I look forward to your comments as it pertains to this incident and in general.


jon