Posted on 04/06/2010 6:56:58 PM PDT by george76
Under-inflated tyres caused a learjet to crash killing four people and ...
The National Transportation Safety Board also said a design flaw in the Learjet 60 and a decision by the flight's captain to abort takeoff in Columbia, South Carolina, were also at fault in the accident.
Investigators told the board they found that operators of air charters often are not aware how rapidly the tires of some business jets can lose pressure and are not checking tire pressure frequently enough.
"This accident didn't have to happen," ...
The board also said the Federal Aviation Administration and Learjet Inc., a subsidiary of Bombardier Aerospace of Canada, did not take aggressive enough action to correct a design flaw involving the Learjet 60's thrust reversers despite knowing that the flaw played a role in a similar 2001 accident in Alabama in which two people were seriously injured.
As the plane hurtled down the runway at about 150 mph, all four tyres of the plane exploded only seconds apart. Pieces of the tyres, hurled at high speeds, damaged the plane's hydraulic system, causing the brakes to fail.
The flight's captain, who had only 35 hours of experience flying a Learjet 60, made a split-second decision to abort the takeoff, even though the plane had exceeded the speed at which the takeoff could be safely rejected, investigators said. Pilots are trained not to halt a takeoff after reaching a certain speed as long as the plane is still capable of flight.
A pilot would be unable to tell that the tyres were underinflated simply by looking at them, investigators said. FAA regulations also prohibit commercial pilots from using instruments to measure tyre pressure, they said.
The board also recommended FAA require Learjet to fix the flaw that caused the problem with the thrust reversers.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
My 72 Buick Le Sabre hold the tire pressure since they were put on.
Yo Bamamniacs put NASA on it!
The NTSB press release has links to a ouple of PDF's that plot the accident on aerial photos.
I've never seen such a presentation from NTSB; it's a VERY clear picture of the accident sequence.
The (smaller file) 13-page PDF
The detailed aerial overlay PDF
Drummers NEVER live long.
How many times have you watched Spinal Tap?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.