system
Well, that’s the end of that.
Well, that’s the end of that.
Indeed. Yet we always see media reports of people making landings on roads. I am yet to see a comment in a report that the prevalence of cars and wires mean that roads are the last resort.
Road are one thing, bridges with side rails are another. Cars can get out of your way very easily on a bridge. Ditching in a fixed gear plane is bad too, I think fight or flight instant response would make that call at that time.
Paul’s video is very good.
Ditching - Is ditching Taboo?
– nobody wants to talk about it!
https://fromherotozero.com.au/wp/hints-on-crashing-ditching-2/
Bridges are narrow. You’re going to be oncoming to someone.
The average road lane is 12ft wide and a Cessna 172 has a 36ft wingspan. So if you landed that Cessna exactly in the middle of a roadway that’s three lanes wide – which that bridge is not – the plane would still occupy all three lanes.
Having lived and flown in that area for a big part of my life, I would recommend ditching in the water THAT’S ALL AROUND you and is not freezing anytime of the year. Landing on a bridge like that is suicidal.
If the “Monday morning QBs” influence a single pilot into making a better decision. It is called ‘hangar flying’ and ‘post-crash analysis’. Otherwise known as “I would much rather learn from the mistakes of others.”
It is possible one or more aboard may not have been able to swim.
I have done a bit of flying in that area and there are 2 very nice beaches, one on either side of the bridge. Even going into the water a few yards off shore would have been a much better choice in my mind.
One “limiting factor” is that Haulover Beach, just north of the bridge, has a nude (clothing optional) beach which may have been a distraction.
I know that from 1000’ you can’t tell though.
Looks like before retracting the gear, the brakes are applied and the brake in that wheel may have seized immediately releasing the black cloud and rupturing off either the axle or whatever part of the brake assembly while letting go of the wheel. It would be interesting to get to know what the real reason was.
This is one of those videos where you can’t draw any conclusions except one; like always, when something interesting happens the camera guy shows us the weeds at his feet. Normally, a simple blown tire doesn’t cause a wholesale detachment from it’s rim. Nor does a blown tire cause the entire wheel (hub, rim, & tire) to fall off. From the way the wheel truck angles upwards after liftoff (normal) and during landing flare, the rear wheels probably see more wear. We’ll have to see the FAA report a year from now to have a clue.
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He had to quickly point the camera at the weeds as he realized he had just witnessed a secret test of a modern variant of an “Upkeep” - last used in anger 79 years ago. Didn’t want to give anything away about its ultimate performance… 
I’m guessing a dry or frozen wheel bearing that was dragging throughout the takeoff roll. It would get very hot and start to cook the tire. Tapping the brakes on retraction might have just pushed it over the edge and the tire blew, encouraging the (red hot?) axle to separate in all the excitement. I imagine a heavy lifter like that puts a lot of load on the wheels and brakes. More than a stock 747?
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>>We’ll have to see the FAA report a year from now to have a clue.
You probably mean the NTSB, but this happened in Italy. I don’t think we will ever get anything from the FAA nor the NTSB. I doubt this even qualifies as an accident.
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The NTSB looks at incidents involving U.S.-registered aircraft regardless of where the incident took place. For examples, see: https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-main-public/query-builder?month=9&year=2022
As a retired A&P I’d not want to be the mechanic/engineer or inspector responsible for maintenance on this ship. Will be curious to find the cause of this in the future.
Retracting the gear after (during?) a wheel fire could be the wrong thing to do; however, it all worked out in this instance. I remember the wheel well fire that brought down the DC-8-61 after takeoff from Jeddah in July of 1991. The body count on that one was 261.
A link to the story here:
https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-douglas-dc-8-61-jeddah-261-killed
Brilliant, Jim K.
Back in the early 70’s, the first C-5A cargo plane was being landed at Charleston AFB, co- located with the civilan airport. After landing, the crew noticed a wheel rolling down the runway ahead of them. Unlike that 747, they only had 23 wheels left (I think that is correct). The pilot in command was the 4-Star General, commander of MAC (Military Airlift Command).
I believe the 747 gear retraction sequence automatically applies brake pressure to stop the wheels. High-pressure tires on large aircraft have lead plugs that will blow out to prevent un-engineered ruptures of the tire due to over-temp (usually after an RTO). It’s possible that happened here, but clearly something else was wrong as well since the wheel typically stays attached.
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Justin, you are referring to the fusible plug in a jet’s tire, designed to start melting at a certain temperature. Those plugs do not “blow out”, they are designed to slowly deflate the tire. I’ve seen it first hand.
“landed safely on its remaining 17 wheels” – I just love that.
Almost as good as the first comment about lead. Got a bone to pick, just can’t figure out where to pick it.
> The aircraft continued to Charleston and landed safely on its remaining 17 wheels.
Ah yes, the dreaded 17-wheel landing–very dangerous…
Just sayin’… Lead exposure produces cognitive decline…
Finally, an AVweb comment that put a smile on my face!
I thought the Dreamlifters are operated by Atlas, but that looked like Allegiant.