QF32 burst tyre photos surface

[thewinchester]

From Wings Down Under:

Photos of Wheel and Tyre Damage to Qantas A380

By Will Horton, April 11, 2010

Remember the Qantas A380 that burst its tyres upon landing at Sydney on 30 March?

Well here are some photos sent to me of the damage of the QF32 flight. Not only were the tyres shredded, there was substantial damage to the undercarriage with the bottom portions of some wheels entirely chipped off.

It is rumored the incident occurred due to break failure, but Qantas has not confirmed this. If you know more about the photos' origin, please let me know.

 

[samh004]

If those are the wheels, I’d like to see the runway damage!

Also, that must be one of the strongest jacks in the world… to lift the whole plane and change a wheel :shock:

 

[milehighclub]

The breaks didn't fail at all - the breaks worked and that's why the tires burst

 

[oz_mark]

The breaks didn't fail at all - the breaks worked and that's why the tires burst

Exactly what I was thinking - the brakes worked a little too well!

 

[Flying Fox]

Also, that must be one of the strongest jacks in the world… to lift the whole plane and change a wheel :shock:

Not only that, the plane still had passengers, luggage and cargo on-board too.

Thanks for the great pics. The alloy wheels look awesome with their new flat-spot. Wonder if they will end up in the QF Heritage Museum (they already have a 747 wheel/tyre combination cut-away up there).

Anyone know if this is the first operational tyre deflation on an A380?

 

[samh004]

Exactly what I was thinking - the brakes worked a little too well!

Perhaps there’s a problem with the ABS, assuming planes have that?

 

[docjames]

Perhaps there’s a problem with the ABS, assuming planes have that?

That's what it looks like - the wheels locked and have subsequently blown the tyre due to non-rotation (and then ground down the wheels and damaged the gear).

 

[UP4014]

The breaks didn't fail at all - the breaks worked and that's why the tires burst

A lock up is also a failure.

 

[markis10]

A lock up is also a failure.

Not if the anti-skid was turned off ( I am not saying it was off), there is a selector just under the brake pressure gauge (which would have been interesting to look at during the landing ), the systems display wheel page would have also been showing some interesting readouts given the lack of pressure in wheels 1 & 5, the coughpit must have got very noisy!

 

[Flying Fox]

That's what it looks like - the wheels locked and have subsequently blown the tyre due to non-rotation (and then ground down the wheels and damaged the gear).

Does anyone know if there are any grooves left on the runway?

 

[thewinchester]

Does anyone know if there are any grooves left on the runway?

I suspect we'll need to wait for the ATSB report into the event before getting an answer to that question.

 

[markis10]

I bet it did leave some grooves, and probably a lot of metal as well , Car 2 would have taken a while to do the inspection!

 

[cmon0005]

I want to know how they got the plane off the runway and back to the hanger with that kind of damage?

 

[markis10]

Put some spare tyres and rims on I would imagine, it took them a while to get the axle out of the runway, so I suspect the gouge was a good size, it was certainly reported that there were unplanned grooving works!

 

[thewinchester]

From memory only 2 of the 20 tyres on this A380 burst, so I'd guess they would have been easily able to move it on the remaining tyres.

 

[samh004]

From memory only 2 of the 20 tyres on this A380 burst, so I'd guess they would have been easily able to move it on the remaining tyres.

I’ve you’ve seen the photos I’d doubt they could move that plane at all with the damage.