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Burst tyres do not endanger overall flight operation
The incident of a tyre on the landing gear of an aircraft bursting as experienced by Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight MH192 is not something strange, but has also happened to other commercial aircrafts.
Peter Talalla, a former special adviser to AirAsia’s chief executive officer, said it could happen to any aircraft but what was important was that the incident did not affect and endanger the overall flight operation.
“The reality is that although this does not happen every day, airplanes have landing gear malfunctions more often than you might imagine but people do not realise it.
“Why? because a burst tyre rarely causes death or injuries and so it does not become an issue to any quarters,” he told Bernama here, today.
Talalla, who has more than 34 years of experience in the aviation industry, said he personally had undergone the experience, whereby the tyres of the aircraft he was piloting failed to function during landing.
“Actually, it is more of a concern on takeoff because after takeoff, the wheels are retracted and a wheel well fire could happen.
“But there is a fire detection (system) in the wheel well which would alert the pilot. If there is a fire, the emergency checklist would direct the pilot to lower the landing gear (wheels) and return for landing,” he said.
He also praised the efficiency of the pilot, Captain Nor Adam Azmi, and his co-pilot Prakash Kumar in handling the emergency situation.
“In my humble opinion they have done a good job. The pilot of MH192 handled the situation very professionally and in accordance with the standard operating procedures, checklist and flight operations manual,” he said.
Meanwhile, Universiti Putra Malaysia Aerospace Engineering Department lecturer Associate Professor Dr Kamarul Arifin Ahmad explained that there was no specific cause for the incident but it could be unravelled after the investigation is conducted.
“Among the causes which prompt a landing gear tyre to burst is the weather factor, life expectancy and air pressure rate. All these must be taken into account by referring to the maintenance record of the aircraft involved,” he explained.
Flight MH192, with 159 passengers and seven crew departed from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) last night at 10.09pm, for Bangalore, India.
It then detected that its right landing gear was not functioning, causing it to fly back for an emergency landing at KLIA, at 1.56am.
The flight resumed its journey to Bangalore at 3.30pm, from KLIA here, using a different aircraft.
Malaysian Crime Prevention Awareness Board president Datuk Seri Dr Saharuddin Awang Yahya, on his part, opined that MAS must review the engineering examination procedure on its aircraft.
He said the rationale for improvements to the procedure was to ensure the untoward incident would not happen again.
Well-known crime analyst Kamal Affendi Hashim said: “Every company has its protocols when facing an emergency, what more MAS which has to abide by the international aviation industry conditions.
“Based on these features, I am very sure the action they took to perform an emergency landing was accurate, but there are angles that need to be checked,” he added.
