You are both correct, this is what is called the bathtub curve of reliability over age. Early teathing problems are sorted out after some time and the failure probability falls steeply to a bottom line. (Typically this is related to design and production flaws) Much later some aging problems start and the failure probability rises again, this time due to the fact that nothing lasts forever...

...like slide rules, carbon paper and vinyl records...

Nonsense, the A380 has 22 wheels. 4 on each wing gear and 6 on each body gear in addition to 2 on the nose gear. By all accounts, 6 wheels deflated, most likely due to fuseable plugs melting and that is certainly no danger to the passengers.

ventus2cxt:

They have my sympathy.

As soon as the Xerox machine appeared in the U.S. in the early 1960s, carbon paper was discontinued at offices of any size; i.e., the typewriter outlasted carbon paper by several decades here.

It blew 6 fuse plugs, someone tell where the energy from the brake packs is supposed to go when you land at a weight of approx. 400000kgs!

Airbus must have designed the A380 with the penalty in mind of melting a few wheels of an overweight landing, Hence leaving a couple of boogies without brake packs.

Maybe the extra packs would have adsorbed more of the energy, who knows?

Hi Beeline,

The fuse plugs probably blew after the aircraft had stopped. It takes time for the heat energy to be absorbed into the tyres as this video of 747 RTO demonstration shows:
New jumbo jet performs ultimate aborted takeoff | Technically Incorrect - CNET News

When I say blew, thats me dramatising, deflating is the more mundane operative word lol!

If the aircraft had more brake packs then the energy would have distributed across the ship, thus less heat into the wheels that deflated maybe saving a few.

I know the guys chasing around looking for wheels for it the other day! Certainly the whole LHR stock is diminished!

Which is no doubt testament to the number of fake licences!

Hats off Sir,