2 Delta workers killed at ATL after tire explosion 8/27/24

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A tire reportedly exploded in Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Tuesday morning, according to the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.

"Two people were killed and one was injured after a tire reportedly exploded at a Delta Air Lines facility in Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Tuesday morning, officials said."

https://apnews.com/article/delta-ex...anta-georgia-978d4a77652375968b7000c8dee0ca7f

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-new...ion-delta-facility-atlantas-hartsf-rcna168419
 
Out of curiosity, what's the typical inflation pressure for the tire on something like a 737 or A320?
 
donjohnston said:
Out of curiosity, what's the typical inflation pressure for the tire on something like a 737 or A320?
Click to expand...

Google suggests 200psi, but I'm sure someone will drop by to confirm.

Frankly I didn't think people could be killed by tire explosions, but then I googled and saw this RC NASA vehicle designed specifically to pop tires.

This was for NASA, not for commercial 737s and the like..
"An exploding test tire releases energy equivalent to two and one-half sticks of dynamite and can cause severe injuries to anyone within 50 ft. of the explosion, as well as ear injury — possibly permanent hearing loss — to anyone within 100 ft. The degree of danger is also determined by the temperature pressure and cord wear of a test tire."
 
One of two things are likely....either they were in the blast cones while pressurizing the tire on the aircraft, or they had removed it without depressurizing it first. SOP for most aircraft tire shops is 1st pressurization after a tire change is inside a cage. Tire pressure is then monitored for 24 or 48 hours to verify the beads are fully seated and no orings leaking. The tire is then deflated to a much lower pressur e to maintain seating of the beads. Once the tire is installed on the aircraft, while it's still on the jack, it gets inflated to the pressure called for in the manual.

Some idea on how violent a tire explosion is...

 
I remember in Iraq right before I got there a PFC was killed and a SGT lost his arms when they over inflated a UH-60 tire. Can happen with car tires as well.

 
Craig said:
Some idea on how violent a tire explosion is...
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Holy $#!t! Most of those look like all they did was add more shrapnel to the equation!
 
Yep, about 200lbs. At the boat about THREE hunnert pounds.

Ya, V E R Y violent. The reason for fuse plugs, which don’t help with simple failure or over inflation. Accumulators can do this as well.

There’s LOTS around behemoth planes that’s crazy dangerous. This is plain old awful…
 
I’ve seen wheelbarrow wheels spontaneously blow and cause me to launch me self into the overhead thinkin SOMETHING REAL BAD just happened… nope, just a wheel barrow wheel…
 
On a motorcycle ride through Ventura, we’re stopped at a red light next to a gas station. And suddenly there is a BOOM! to our right. Look at the gas station, and we see two officers on bicycle patrol. One has an air hose in his hand, a blown-up tire and a bewildered look on his face. The other is doubled over laughing.
 
Driving to work this morning I saw a car tire explode on the highway. Looked as violent as the videos. Car was already in the far right and just pulled off.
 
My dad was safety manager fir many years at a company, had a tire filled outside the safety cage kill an employee. He said that was worse than the guy who fell 40 feet.
 
Some more info came out this morning....they were disassembling a wheel for maintenance....Sounds like they did not verify that the tire was depressurized first......In our tire shop, first thing is depressurize the assembly, then remove the valve from the schrader assembly, then remove the schrader assembly itself...
 
We used to inflate split rims under an in-ground hoist arm. Back in the day, was a very common procedure at gas stations. Air pressure was much lower about 80. Only larger truck tire shops had inflation cages. Never saw one go off but still bothered me to work on them. Today few shops will work on those wheels. Too old and crusty to be safe.

Too bad about the workers, one mistake cost 3 lives. RIP
 
I had a complicated surgical case years back in training where a fellow was standing over a split rim laid flat on the ground during inflation. When the rim ring separated, it blew upward and rather hastily removed the front half of his lower jaw, the front third of his upper jaw and had a bit of his nose dangling by the skin of the dorsum. A bit of bone/muscle/skin from one of his lower legs, a host of titanium hardware, and 16hrs later he was as good as...... well... as good as he could expect and still be alive. Fortunately no brain injury. I didn't see another injury like that until crack hit the streets of the Big Easy, then gunshot wounds trained another generation of residents on free flap reconstruction of traumatic injuries to the face.
 
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Big wheels are scary as sh*t. There is a reason they inflate them in cages.
 
I don’t want to think about being next to a big rig waiting at a light…
 
When I used to commute on I-80 in NJ, too many times I was witness to tractor trailer tire explosions. They sound like a bomb going off, and if you are unlucky enough to be next to them, will do significant damage to a car....
 
Almost all trucks today are single piece wheels. Overall, much safer. However, a friend does tires for a transit system. Just last week during inflation a sidewall started to rupture inside a cage. They were able to deflate it before total failure. So, it can still happen.
 
Now you see why large aircraft tires have fuse plugs and the wheel wells have fire loops.

Retract the wheels with hot brakes, and if you have a tire explosion it could get dramatic.
 
Worked with someone who lost part of an arm from something like this years ago. I heard it was from airing up a nose tire without a good regulator, I never asked. Don't know what happened at Delta.

When I did that sort of work on 727 & DC-9s, I was always keen to look for cracks in the wheel rims, maybe telltale loose washers under a nut. I always used the regulator to air them up and I never stood next to the tire as it was pressurized (out on the ramp). I believe the process was to ship them with just enough dry nitrogen pressure to keep the moisture out.

Hopefully, no airline ever ships them in the cargo hold of an aircraft. I watch organizations forget what the best practices were too often. All it takes is one retirement.
 
RIP to those that lost their lives.
I’ve changed a lot of truck tires in my life, but thankfully never got involved with 2 piece rims with a lock ring when they come undone that lock ring is like a flying machete. Kid here in town got had his head removed from his body back in the 80’s
Even single piece rims get pretty violent when the tire comes undone. Stored energy is a b!tch.
 
I don't think multi-piece rims are used for over the road trucks anymore, but pretty sure they're still used for heavy equipment and agriculture. Couldn't pay me to work on them, but I'm a big baby.
 
kontiki said:
Worked with someone who lost part of an arm from something like this years ago. I heard it was from airing up a nose tire without a good regulator, I never asked. Don't know what happened at Delta.

When I did that sort of work on 727 & DC-9s, I was always keen to look for cracks in the wheel rims, maybe telltale loose washers under a nut. I always used the regulator to air them up and I never stood next to the tire as it was pressurized (out on the ramp). I believe the process was to ship them with just enough dry nitrogen pressure to keep the moisture out.

Hopefully, no airline ever ships them in the cargo hold of an aircraft. I watch organizations forget what the best practices were too often. All it takes is one retirement.
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This isn't my field of specialty, but where should they put them if not the cargo hold? Passenger compartment? Cockpit uh, er, Flight Deck?
 
Doc Holliday said:
Now you see why large aircraft tires have fuse plugs and the wheel wells have fire loops.

Retract the wheels with hot brakes, and if you have a tire explosion it could get dramatic.
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Fuse plugs relate to temp, not pressure. You can melt a fuse plug at any pressure. Any wheel can have a fuse plug, not just large aircraft.

If the brakes are hot enough to be of concern, BTMS will alarm with a tire temp caution or warning. Flight crew will take appropriate actions.

Also the use of nitrogen limits the amount of pressure built up due to heat by removing impurities like moisture and oxygen... but 220psi is still 220psi.

I spoke with many Delta folks and no one seems to have the real story.. Delta did send an email saying that once a root cause if determined then will inform everyone.

To all the folks talking about tire cages etc that's not really a thing on the line or stores. A tire is considered unuseable and must be changed if the pressure is generally 20 psi less than required so under normal circumstances tires on wheels are always near required pressure.
 
pfarber said:
Fuse plugs relate to temp, not pressure. You can melt a fuse plug at any pressure. Any wheel can have a fuse plug, not just large (the FAA calls anything over 12,500lbs HEAVY, not LARGE) aircraft.
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Here we go again. :rolleyes:

First, you can't even get your terminology correct. Greater than 12,500 is a large aircraft.

From 14 CFR Part 1.1 Large aircraft means aircraft of more than 12,500 pounds, maximum certificated takeoff weight

Heavy Aircraft is a ATC designation for aircraft over 300,000 lbs used for separation (see N JO7110.525)

pfarber said:
If the brakes are hot enough to be of concern, BTMS will alarm with a tire temp caution or warning. Flight crew will take appropriate actions.
Click to expand...

Large aircraft have fire loops in the wheel wheel to denote a high temperature, which would typically be generated by a hot brake. Procedures typically call if the Wheel Well Overheat Warning comes on, put the gear down.

The fuse plugs are there for an overheated wheel. Again, the over heated wheel coupled with the pressurized tire could be an explosion if it didn't have fuse plugs to melt and relieve the tire of pressure before reaching that point.

pfarber said:
Also the use of nitrogen limits the amount of pressure built up due to heat by removing impurities like moisture and oxygen... but 220psi is still 220psi.
Click to expand...

pfarber said:
I spoke with many Delta folks and no one seems to have the real story.
Click to expand...
It's an ongoing investigation. They are not going to throw out speculation to those not involved in the investigation.

pfarber said:
To all the folks talking about tire cages etc that's not really a thing on the line or stores.
Click to expand...

You've obviously never been in an aircraft tire shop at a large aircraft maintenance hanger where tire assemblies are built up.

90423_b.jpg


pfarber said:
A tire is considered unuseable and must be changed if the pressure is 20 psi less than required so under normal circumstances tires on wheels are always near required pressure.
Click to expand...

Depends entirely upon which aircraft you are talking about. Procedures varies across different models.
 
Albany Tom said:
I don't think multi-piece rims are used for over the road trucks anymore, but pretty sure they're still used for heavy equipment and agriculture. Couldn't pay me to work on them, but I'm a big baby.
Click to expand...

Correct, haven't been OEM for a long long time, but there are still some around. My 1951 Mack has 2 piece rims. I take that to the tire shop if it needs any tire work.
 
Doc Holliday said:
Here we go again. :rolleyes:

You've obviously never been in an aircraft tire shop at a large aircraft maintenance hanger where tire assemblies are built up.

90423_b.jpg
Click to expand...

Well he said “on the line or in stores”. There are no tire cages at our line station. Our tires are shipped at full pressure.

In a former life at a different airline tires were shipped at 40% pressure if I recall correctly.

The CRJ AMM has a line to the effect that if a main tire has ever found less than 150 psi to replace both tires. A dozen or so tires in my time there got replaced due to someone letting the jack down without airing a tire up past the shipping pressure. That wasn’t the intent of the manual IMO.
 
Bacho said:
Our tires are shipped at full pressure.
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Correct. Different aircraft and different carriers have various procedures. There is no "one size" fits all.

Bacho said:
In a former life at a different airline tires were shipped at 40% pressure if I recall correctly.
Click to expand...
Yep, I've seen variances over the years.

Bacho said:
The CRJ AMM has a line to the effect that if a main tire has ever found less than 150 psi to replace both tires. A dozen or so tires in my time there got replaced due to someone letting the jack down without airing a tire up past the shipping pressure. That wasn’t the intent of the manual IMO.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Lots of variations depending on manufacturer and airframe.
 
As an airport firefighter, exploding aircraft tires are one of the many hazards we are specifically trained for, or at least trained to avoid.

If you have never seen this video before, it shows the hazards very well. The background, this is a certification test for the Airbus A340 when it was new. Manufacturers are required to do this torture test as part of the certification of air carrier aircraft. It is meant to represent the worst case scenario of an aborted takeoff. The aircraft is outfitted with worn out brakes (and tires too if I recall), loaded to maximum takeoff weight, then accelerated to V1, or takeoff abort speed. They must then bring the aircraft to a stop using only the brakes, no reversers. After that the aircraft must taxi a certain distance under its own power and stop again. To pass the test, the aircraft must not catch fire or be damaged, and not need firefighting measures for so many minutes. The fusible plugs may blow and tires deflate, but that is about it.

This is an example of a fail, and why this is usually the last test performed during the certification testing. We always show this to our firefighters in training to show them exactly what they may face.

 
Interesting video ... but scary as hell! Everything looked O.K. after the "emergency" stop, until it wasn't. I was amazed that everything looked fine for several minutes until suddenly, tires started exploding. Oh, speaking of exploding tires, Valujet 592 had an inflated aircraft tire in its forward cargo hold, and the oxygen generators were in boxes atop the tire. The oxygen generators were still charged and were not allowed to be transported by passenger aircraft in their charged state. What could possibly go wrong?(!)
 
robin ardoin said:
I had a complicated surgical case years back in training where a fellow was standing over a split rim laid flat on the ground during inflation. When the rim ring separated, it blew upward and rather hastily removed the front half of his lower jaw, the front third of his upper jaw and had a bit of his nose dangling by the skin of the dorsum. A bit of bone/muscle/skin from one of his lower legs, a hoist of titanium hardware, and 16hrs later he was as good as...... well... as good as he could expect and still be alive. Fortunately no brain injury. I didn't see another injury like that until crack hit the streets of the Big Easy, then gunshot wounds trained another generation of residents on free flap reconstruction of traumatic injuries to the face.
Click to expand...
Yours is the lords work. My wife has shown me some of the pictorials of pre-surgical of one of her ACU patients, following a failed suicide attempt by shotgun. True miracle workers. lost eyesigh and hearing on most of it, but the mere fact he's still alive and even facially recognizable as a human being is a testament to human progress. You guys are at the tip of that spear. Mad Respect.
 
hindsight2020 said:
Yours is the lords work. My wife has shown me some of the pictorials of pre-surgical of one of her ACU patients, following a failed suicide attempt by shotgun. True miracle workers. lost eyesigh and hearing on most of it, but the mere fact he's still alive and even facially recognizable as a human being is a testament to human progress. You guys are at the tip of that spear. Mad Respect.
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Thank you but I am only the instrument used by a power beyond myself. I was truly blessed to be trained by some of the giants in my field….and the vast amount of training material provided by Charity Hospital in N.O. didn’t hurt ;)
 
Back when I was fueling airplanes, I was under the wing of a United 727 with its APU running (A very noisy place) and a FedEx 727 blew a tire on landing. It was loud enough that even with earplugs and a noisy APU behind me it made me jump.
 
Doc Holliday said:
Here we go again. :rolleyes:

First, you can't even get your terminology correct. Greater than 12,500 is a large aircraft.

From 14 CFR Part 1.1 Large aircraft means aircraft of more than 12,500 pounds, maximum certificated takeoff weight

Heavy Aircraft is a ATC designation for aircraft over 300,000 lbs used for separation (see N JO7110.525)



Large aircraft have fire loops in the wheel wheel to denote a high temperature, which would typically be generated by a hot brake. Procedures typically call if the Wheel Well Overheat Warning comes on, put the gear down.

The fuse plugs are there for an overheated wheel. Again, the over heated wheel coupled with the pressurized tire could be an explosion if it didn't have fuse plugs to melt and relieve the tire of pressure before reaching that point.




It's an ongoing investigation. They are not going to throw out speculation to those not involved in the investigation.



You've obviously never been in an aircraft tire shop at a large aircraft maintenance hanger where tire assemblies are built up.

90423_b.jpg




Depends entirely upon which aircraft you are talking about. Procedures varies across different models.
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Great another google-educated kommando who can't read past the first page of search results.

Heavy and Large are only used for WAKE TURBULENCE warning given by ATC. You actually cited this in your reference, but again, you never read anything, your just google crap and think you are smart. "(see N JO7110.525)" - The 7110 is the ATC handbook and it clearly states weight classes are used for WAKE TURBULANCE only, nothing else.

As for 'fire loops' they do not detect fire. They are temperature sensors. Your wacky idea that hot brakes are gonna blow up tires in a wheel well is uninformed as usual. We use the exact same loops to detect bleed air (HOT engine air) for anti-ice in the wings. Are you also going to say that there is fire being piped from the engines to melt LE ice? HAHAHAHAHAHHAHA I bet you do. There are at least two other things that will alarm before this mythical exploding tire enters the wheel well... first, the brake temp sensor is gonna give a warning, second the anti skid is gonna complain because if a brake is dragging it WILL trigger the anti-skid system and on top of that you will have a tire pressure monitor (ok, not all jets have this) and as previously noted the wheel fuse plug.

Maybe you need to take a GENFAM class or at least read your own cited sources? Correcting you is becoming a full time job and honestly the pay isn't worth it.

For the third time: BE LESS WRONG.

As for tire cages, they are not a thing in stores or on the line. Back end shops yes.
 
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