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Virgin nose wheel incident

Virgin 737-700 lost a nose wheel this morning in Melbourne prior to take off.

I had one of those but *** ***** **** ***

bbbbbbbbbbbbbbzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Wow.. Detailed...:ugh:

The wheels are falling off at VB, literally.:eek:

86'er

Sources indicate VH-VBA was involved in the incident.Major damage to nose gear(axle collapse),lucky the A/C had not taken off .Reports indicated that the safety car picked up the wheel on the runway.Good work it seems by the pilots concerned.Info coming thru slowly any other input would be appreciated.IE what phase of takeoff the A/C was at.How many pax were onboard and destination.

Yes good work....for not continuing after losing a nose wheel!! he he he

sorry lame, but not a thing in the media about it, so it can't be true:ok:

If it was Qantas it would have been front page.

If it had been Mrats, it might have been reported 6 months later after the crew was sacked, er I mean resigned:E

Heard 3AW this morning with the report that had been posted on their rumour file
I can confirm via talking with crews that a wheel axle separated whilst on taxi just short of the runway, it was noticed by another crew following nearby. The aircraft was then taxied back to the gate (at this point I'm wondering whether an engineer inspected it first before they made that decision, sounds dangerous and problematic to me). It is believed that corrosion was the cause but the CASA / ATSB investigation should pin point this.

Quote:

sorry lame, but not a thing in the media about it, so it can't be true

It is now

Virgin Blue disaster avoided after front wheel falls off plane | Herald Sun

Sarah Wotherspoon

July 27, 2009 10:22am

THE aircraft engineers union has demanded tougher safety checks after the front wheel reportedly fell off a Virgin Blue plane.
A potential disaster was avoided after pilots on the tarmac alerted the Virgin pilot that one of the front wheels had fallen off and told him to take the plane back to the terminal.

The plane was about to take off from Melbourne airport about 8am on Saturday.

Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association national secretary Steve Purvinas told 3AW corrosion was thought to have caused the wheel to come loose.

“What occurred is not a case of a wheel nut to being done up properly,” he said.

“There was some corrosion in the axel which has led to the release of the wheel.”

Mr Purvinas said the plane may have crashed if the pilot had attempted to take off or disaster could have struck when the plane went to land.

“If the aircraft had tried to take off and the corrosion was on both sides the nose of the aircraft, the landing gear, would have dug into the runway and who knows what could have happened,” he said.

“Similarly on landing if the axel had collapsed there, it certainly could have been disastrous.”

Virgin Blue did not return calls from the Herald Sun yesterday regarding the incident.

Congratulations Sarah Wotherspoon and herald scum editors fail basic spelling.

Quote:

ax⋅le –noun 1. Machinery. the pin, bar, shaft, or the like, on which or by means of which a wheel or pair of wheels rotates.
2. the spindle at either end of an axletree.
3. an axletree.

Quote:

ax⋅el
–noun Figure Skating. a jump performed by a skater leaping from the front outer edge of one skate into the air to make 1 1/2 rotations of the body and landing on the back outer edge of the other skate.

Quote:

A potential disaster was avoided after pilots on the tarmac alerted the Virgin pilot that one of the front wheels had fallen off and told him to take the plane back to the terminal.

Another piece of outstanding aviation journalism. Where do they get these journos??

Sure lucky there were some sensible pilots down there on the tarmac to tell the poor Virgin dude to go back to the termnal otherwise he may have thought taking off with one nosewheel was okay.:rolleyes:

That pesky corrosion eh. Lets hope the wings are free of it.

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Sure lucky there were some sensible pilots down there on the tarmac

Do you guys get paid extra for that and do you have to provide your own chairs?
I'm surprised you have time to sit around on the tarmac!
:rolleyes:

Are 737 nose landing gears engineered to do a takeoff run on one wheel, not to mention a landing?

Do spotters in the control tower look for missing wheels on approaching aircraft?

Just curious.

Could there have been a potential major disaster if the aircraft had attempted a take off or landing with one nose wheel missing? Surely the load on the front of the aircraft would be quiet different on one side, combined with the speed.

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Do spotters in the control tower look for missing wheels on approaching aircraft?

Not sure, but I do know that engineers would be looking for defects during the pushback.

Oh, hang on a sec. That's right. I forgot.
Virgin Blue uses baggage handlers to push back aircraft in Melbourne!