Two aircraft maintenance workers dead after tire explodes

[Just a civilian pilot]

Our company procedure is to advise maintenance and the station ( airport ops who will warn ramp crew ) anytime A320 brakes reach 500 degrees C ( pretty rare ) in case a tire blows.

Fuse plugs blow at 800/900 degrees C on the 321/320.

You would only see those temperatures after a rejected take off worst case scenario.

 

[john_pifer]

Are you familiar with the Swiss Cheese Model?

Yeah, of course.

I assume you’re suggesting that the guy who removed it assumed that the guys in the tire shop would deflate it, and the tire shop guys assumed the ramp mech deflated it.

Then maybe they decided not to use the safety cage for whatever reason.

All the holes lined up.

I just can’t imagine not double checking before starting to remove the tie bolts.

Reminds me of gun safety. When there’s a negligent discharge, usually someone has violated at least 2 of the rules of gun safety (don’t point it at something you don’t want shot, keep your finger off the trigger until you’re ready to shoot, always treat every gun as if it’s loaded). Following any one of those rules will keep a ND from happening.

 

[PontiacHO]

Some old GM/Chevy pickup trucks used 16.5" split rims, you have to either use a cage or wrap a good size chain around it and use a clamping air chuck. They could be deadly, I saw one let go, lucky the guy was standing way away from it, it put a hole through the garage roof.

Yes. Had this happen in our shop. Hit the ceiling and dented the metal roof system. It would have easily cut someone in half. Our tire guy never had to be reminded to secure rims etc. after that.

 

[JTK]

I feel for all those involved. Terrible.

The stored energy from pressurized gas is no joke. I've seen gas cylinders tip, shear the valve off the top (or be damaged in a fire) and take off like a rocket. We have trains of centrifugal compressors that pump N2 gas up to ~750psig @ very large volumes. Head pressures in our H2 plants is 600psig. It's done with large recip compressors for that. Lots of close calls and near misses over the years despite our training and procedures.

 

[fdcg27]

A very sad day for these men and their families as well as everyone who works at ATL.
Maybe they were in a hurry, maybe they all thought that one of the others had already performed the routine precautionary procedures, maybe they were distracted or just complacent in approaching a job they had done many times.
None of that matters since two men lost their lives and the lucky one lost his legs.
An ugly event, but documented safety procedures exist for good reason and this is a tragic reminder of that.

 

[wpod]

Can’t imagine how this could have happened.

There must be pieces missing that we don’t know about.

Why didn’t the mechanics deflate it?

If the line mech who removed it knew it was going to the tire shop, why didn’t he deflate it?

RIP and prayers for the families and recovery for the injured.

The media is never a source of information, facts or truth.

 

[JimPghPA]

Can’t imagine how this could have happened.

There must be pieces missing that we don’t know about.

Why didn’t the mechanics deflate it?

If the line mech who removed it knew it was going to the tire shop, why didn’t he deflate it?

RIP and prayers for the families and recovery for the injured.

Too many graduating from schools that only know how to work a computer keyboard, and not how to turn a wrench, entering the workforce and getting into jobs they are not qualified for. Many of them drive vehicles and don't have a clue what's under the hood. Ask them what size engine, or how many cylinders, or what transmission. They don't have a clue. Places are desperate for bodies to do work. They get hired. Things happen.

 

[ms21043]

Company I used to work for bought us a safety cage from this company after I showed the boss this video. This cage is for smaller wheels, not for anything you would find on a wide body. I can't imagine being near one one of those if it let's go. Also, before we got the tested cage, someone wanted to use one of those hoop ones that are for truck tires. Watch what happens to that thing near the end of the video.

 

[97prizm]

Didn't know how dangerous the tires could be during maintenance.

https://apnews.com/article/delta-ex...anta-georgia-978d4a77652375968b7000c8dee0ca7f
https://www.ajc.com/news/business/t...r-atlanta-airport/BC6NJM37XFE3BEXGA4JDD7Y6JI/

When I worked at tve airline with the animals on the tail I was able to get a tour of the repair facility. One thing that was mentioned was that aircraft rims are two halves and are bolted together holding the tire on. Kind of like bead lockers for off-road applications. A Maintenance guy told me that years before they had a new guy that grabbed an airgun and proceeded to remove the bolts holding the rim together. Thankfully he only got one out before it was explained to him that if the rim separated it would be a very bad day. This is the same guy that heard a hydraulic leak in the landing gear and ran his finger over the hydraulic line and "found" the leak when it cut the tip of his finger off.

 

[y_p_w]

I'm starting to think about it because I was watching episodes of an old British series on airline travel. One scene had the CEO of the company visiting the Seattle area to check on the status of a 737, and he actually went up and "kicked the tires". I suppose that's not the most dangerous time, but then people were mentioning how dangerous the tires could be if they did blow.