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A330 loses a wheel


Zan Vetter

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http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/air-canada-flight-wheel-montreal-london-1.4073463

 

Lost a wheel before takeoff. Obviously the crew didn't know. I would love to know the circumstances under which the wheel was discovered to be missing. Was it found on the grass at YUL? Did the aircraft already land in LHR and it was discovered after landing by maintenance? 

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What would be the different in continuing on to LHR where Maintenance is available?

Landing back in YUL would require dumping fuel and flying in circles for quite a while anyway.  The result of continuing the flihgt to LHR was a lighter weight landing and possibly less damage to the aircraft as well as mitigating the other costs associated with a delay.

 

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From another source, this one says it was a 777

Air Canada pilot doesn’t notice as wheel snaps during take-off — manages ‘miracle’ landing in England

An Air Canada Boeing 777-300 travelling from Montreal to London lost a wheel during take-off and still managed to arrive safely in what one airport worker called a “miracle” landing.

Flight AC 864 took off at 7:45 pm at Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport with 294 passengers on board. As it was accelerating to a cruising speed of 905 km/h, the wheel bearing, which keeps the hub and tire together, collapsed. Before long, the whole wheel had snapped off and was sent flying while the aircraft continued its upward trajectory. 

The plane landed on time in London at 7:25 am, but sustained serious damage to the landing gear. The aircraft was expected to fly back to Montreal the following day, but is being held back for repairs. 

It was a landing that could have been fatal, according to an airport worker who spoke to The Sun: “I’ve never seen anything like this in my life.”

The pilot hadn’t noticed the wheel bearing collapsing and was horrified to learn of the damage only after the plane had landed.During a report made just prior to takeoff, the aircraft was cleared to fly. The reason this malfunction was not spotted earlier is still unknown.

This is not the first time an Air Canada aircraft has had wheel trouble. In February, an Airbus A330 was prevented from flying to Brussels because of wheel damage. Photos can be viewed here: http://news.nationalpost.com/news/air-canada-pilot-doesnt-notice-as-wheel-snaps-during-take-off-manages-miracle-landing-in-england?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NP_Top_Stories+(National+Post+-+Top+Stories)

An Air Canada spokesperson told the CBC, “we maintain our fleet to the highest standards and these two events are isolated.”

According to the spokesperson, “as the landing gear is comprised of eight wheels, this had no impact on the safe operation of the flight.”

Finally, whatever happened to the wheel that fell out of the sky? 

On Monday, it was found stuck in a fence a few kilometres from Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport.

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Now what was that plane anyway?? All miracles aside! :cool:

 

"The Airbus A330, carrying 294 passengers, lost one of its eight wheels as it was taking off from Montreal's Trudeau Airport, Air Canada confirmed to CBC."

 

"An Air Canada Boeing 777-300 travelling from Montreal to London lost a wheel during take-off and still managed to arrive safely in what one airport worker called a “miracle” landing."

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I'm not sure what's worse, the laughable "journalism" or the weak statement released by AC.  Honestly, can anyone be a journalist these days?

That aside, would the crew not have brake temp monitoring that would suddenly go offline when the brakes disappeared?  Or is that something you'd only see if you were actively looking for it on a synoptic page? 

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1 hour ago, Canoehead said:

Honestly, can anyone be a journalist these days?

One realizes how bad the journalism is when they write about something that we understand.  Just imagine how much crap goes as informed journalism when it is on topics that we are not experts on.

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yes  only the wheel departed  unless they have tire pressure monitoring there would be no indication.

several incidents of this on the 767 years ago.

 

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Quote

B-777 = 14 wheels...12 Main / 2NW

A-330 = 10 wheels...8 Main / 2NW

A-340= 10 wheels,  which became 8 on departure FRA when the center assembly dropped off an AC flight some years ago.

The rest of the flight was relatively uneventful.

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1 hour ago, Rich Pulman said:

To me, the miracle is that someone didn't get injured when the wheel came off.

Fortunately this is a rare event but I was thinking the same. Beyond the fences surronding YUL are just about everything you can imagine including a golf course parallel to 06L/24R. Lately it's been loose tires on 18 wheelers killing people on the 401. Now keep watching the skies. 

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2 hours ago, Rich Pulman said:

But it does have both brake temperature and tire pressure indications

The tire press monitor might be an option that AC 330's don't have...like the Back Up Speed System

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