Blew a Main Tire Landing Today

[Earl]

Landed at Nashville International today and as I was rolling ourt my right main tire blew.  Got off the runway but not entirely onto the taxiway so the runway was shut down.  Airport personnel were very friendly and helpful.  After she toured the runway for debris she went and gathered a mechanic.  Within an hour I had a temporary tire so I could taxi and they are working on a new tire right now.  Kudos to Signature Flight Service and their A&P's Aeveritt that took great care of me.  Of course I haven't seen the bill yet but I am relieved the runway was only closed for an hour or two.

[skyking]

Glad it all turned out OK for you.

That must be embarrasing, shutting down an international AP..LOL

Thats one of those things i have not experienced yet ( the tire blowing out that is) and hope i dont.

I will keep the name of the FBO in mind when i am down that way

 

russ

[Buster1]

What speed were you at?  How did the Mooney handle when it happened?  Was it controllable, rough, etc?  Any advice?

Glad you are okay.

[mooneygirl]

That sounds like a similiar experience that Mitch had. I am sure he will post later today.  His was on the landing roll, after the plane had almost come to a stop.  Whew.

Thanks for posting

[VanH]

Had a nosewheel tire deflate as I was pulling into parking at El Paso. Cutter Aviation aired it up so I could

pull up the remaining ten feet...whew! El Paso Aero sent mechanics down to change out the tube, valve

stem was shot. Final bill.....are you ready..... $256.00. $109 for the tube, the rest labor. You might not

want to do business with them....

V

[MooneyMitch]

Ok, here's my story and I'm stickin' to it!!  My tires were good, or at least I thought they were!  My left main was the culprit [Michelin].  I touched down and was rolling out.  I applied, what I thought was light breaking in order to slow down a bit more to make a particular runway exit.   I was going maybe a few miles per hour at this point.  Obviously, I applied more pressure than I realized as the left main locked and skidded. 

The skid created a flat spot on the tire.  Enough of a flat spot to burn through the tire and blow out the tube.  Ouch!  The plane came to a halt with the left wing low.  No damage, but yes, I closed the runway for about 15 minutes.  There was no traffic and had there been, the tower folks told me they would have directed all to the cross runway [no wind that day either!....lucky me].

In my opinion, when the groove is gone on any part of a tire, that is the low place and the weakest point.  Given the opportunity [like too much braking], the tire will lock up in that position.  I feel that is what happened to me.

What did I learn?  Easy on those brakes and the other point is...............don't wait to replace those slightly worn tires.  They are the only thing between you and some possible serious airplane damage.   Tires are much less expensive than the alternative. 

Happy landings...............

[Buster1]

Tower would have told you to taxi after that if someone was on final?  They can come out and move the plane for me.  The LAST thing they teach us is to worry about other airplanes out there if you have the emergency (within reason of course).  They can go around, land elsewhere, or divert.  That's why we fly with reserves. 

I can't stand when a tower or controller tries to "fly my plane for me."  Not gonna happen with a $30 Mil F-16 or my rental Cessna.  My tire is blown, I'm not going to jeapardize further risk or damage by moving a stricken bird.

[MooneyMitch]

Quote: Buster1

Tower would have told you to taxi after that if someone was on final?  They can come out and move the plane for me.  The LAST thing they teach us is to worry about other airplanes out there if you have the emergency (within reason of course).  They can go around, land elsewhere, or divert.  That's why we fly with reserves. 

I can't stand when a tower or controller tries to "fly my plane for me."  Not gonna happen with a $30 Mil F-16 or my rental Cessna.  My tire is blown, I'm not going to jeapardize further risk or damage by moving a stricken bird.

[Ron McBride]

Many years ago, we blew the left main on a Comanche, going into SNA at 5 minutes to 11:00 PM. An Aircal 737 was on final behind us. They went around, The tower stayed open past eleven and the Fire Department picked us up and moved the plane to our tie down at no charge. They did tell us, "That if we had pulled onto the taxi way we would have been charged."

This was the last flight for Aircal that night. This tire must have cost a lot of money, figure Aircal in the air for an extra 30 minutes, ground support and the tower on overtime, the fire department.

 

Ron

[Earl]

Update on my blown tire and answers to the questions of other posters.  Turns out they did not have a new tire but the IA inspected the servicable used tire and cleared it OK to fly home.  Total cost was $341 which was mostly labor because I had four guys working to get the plane jacked up and new tire installed so quickly so they could open the runway (fortunately they still had two open runways so no big deal).

Worse yet, as I was taxiing out my phone rings and it is the CFII that I work with on IFR proficiency.  As soon as I saw his call I remembered a Pilatus having to taxi elsewhere to depart because of my disabled Mooney. He flies a charter out of PDK and sure enough it was him in the Pilatus.  So much for my anonomity.  He heaped on the jokes but the good news is we agreed I was overdue for some approaches so it all worked out.

I was actually going pretty slow (15 - 20 knots maybe) when it blew and was turning off on a high speed taxiway.  My first thought was I hit the right brake when I made the turn but it didn't seem like an excessive turn to the right but maybe it happened and I didn't notice it.

The plane actually handled pretty well and just pulled somewhat to the right.  There was no mark in the concrete from the wheel even to where it stopped.  All the gear fairings, brake, etc. were totally unscathed as a testament to Mooney's great design.  One thing for sure, once you are stopped you are not going anywhere with a flat main tire.  I thought about trying to creep forward to be on the taxiway and applied some power and nada, no movement.  Probably not the best idea but I was trying to keep from having them close the runway.

I thought the tires were in pretty good shape.  There were a couple of worn spots but they were OK at my annual.  I do plan to replace both tires as losing a main is a real hassle.  Thank goodness it was during the week, during the day and the mechanics were available.  Can you imagine landing at night on a single strip runway and having to leave your plane sitting there while you try to get help?  Egads!

[skyking]

i had a look at my tires after all these posts and have ordered 3 new trires. Mine all passed the annual back in june but i have pretty good wear on all 3 so why take the chance.

Total cost for all 3 $500 bucks. I have no costs on labour to install them as i have just orderd them.

i wll update the labour when it is done next week.

 

russ

[Earl]

Replaced both main tires last week.  My AP said the left main was in the same shape as the right main that went flat.  Nose tire looks ion better shape.  Glad this is over and all that's left is to pay the bill.  Life in the left seat of your own airplane.

[MB_M20F]

I had something similar happen to me once at Van Nuys. Had what I thought was a normal landing and roll-out but as I was turning off the runway (at low speed) the aircraft suddenly became uncontrolable to the point where it would not move and applying power would merely cause it to pivot around the left main. The tire and tube had been nearly brand new (~20 hours). To this day, I have no idea what caused this. Luckily, I came to a stop half way across the hold short line and ended up shutting down a taxiway only and not the busiest GA airport in the nation.

[skyking]

My new tires are here and they are going to be installed this afternoon.

i have decided to do the annual at the same time as i am tired of my plane being down for 2 weeks in the summer.

( We only get a few good weeks a year in the winter to fly)

I am also going to do the engine mounts and the wormgear that moves the tail.

I willlet you all know the breakdown of the bill.

Wrightwing Aviation has never done me wrong yet and i am sure it will all be quite reasonable.