Some operators are unaware of appropriate tire-pressure check intervals and, as a result, are flying airplanes with dangerously under-inflated tires, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) says, citing the fatal crash of a Bombardier Learjet Model 60 that was attributed to poor tire maintenance (“Thrust Into an Overrun”).1
Tire pressures on the accident airplane had not been checked for about three weeks before the Sept. 19, 2008, accident in Columbia, South Carolina, U.S., the NTSB said. Multiple tire failures — a result of “severe under-inflation” — occurred during the takeoff roll, prompting the crew to reject the takeoff, but the airplane overran the runway safety area and crashed. Both crewmembers and two passengers were killed; the other two passengers were seriously injured, and the airplane was destroyed.
The accident investi…
