Scores of passengers aboard two domestic airlines in Nigeria escaped deaths in the last two weeks when the rear tyres of their aircraft burst while touching down at Lagos and Abuja airports.
Investigations by Per Second News show that most airlines in Nigeria usually do not follow international rules on aircraft tire maintenance.
Speaking with Per Second News, an aviation engineer said aircraft tires experience wear during taxi, takeoff, and landing.
Take off generates the most tire wear because the airplane has a full fuel load and the tires are pre-heated by taxiing. So with all aircraft, tires should be routinely inspected during preflight to check tire wear.
” Tires should also be examined for uneven wear. In cases where gear camber wears one side faster than the other, tires can be demounted and turned around to extend the tire life.
Malfunctioning aircraft tires is a serious safety issue that the ministry of aviation and all relevant agencies must address immediately in Nigeria to guide against disaster.
Aircraft tire blowout is becoming frequent and must be addressed, he warned.
“Uneven aircraft tire wear is usually an indication of gear misalignment or tire under inflation,” he explained.
Per Second News learnt that a number of common causes occur with some frequency apart from tire maintenance.
They include under‐inflation (resulting in over‐deflection), foreignObject Debris (FOD), locked brakes, runway conditions and aircraft operations.
SEE PHOTOS OF TIRES OF THE TWO AIRCRAFT OBTAINED BY PER SECOND NEWS
A Lear 60 crashed during the takeoff roll in September of 2008, killing four people, and two more had serious burns. The root cause of the accident was aircraft tire malfunction.
The catastrophic Concorde crash in Paris in 2000 was caused by tire related issue and all passengers on board perished.
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