cloudseeker2001 0 #1 July 2, 2005 The airline says this is why the tires blew-out while landing with the #2 engine on fire. Is it bullshit? "Part of the reason the tires went flat is because of an overweight landing," said DeLeon. "The plane was estimated to have so much fuel burned by the time it got to Cleveland, but because it had to turn around and land in Houston, it was overweight with fuel." "Some call it heavenly in it's brilliance, others mean and rueful of the western dream" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
blazeofglory 0 #2 July 2, 2005 Yeah,we do that all the time, we take/off at higher than maximum gross weight because we know some of that fuel has to burn till we land. that's a totally BS excuse. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Meux 0 #3 July 2, 2005 I blew a tire once on an overweight landing following an engine failure in a 747. I think the tire went flat when the fuse plugs overheated on landing rollout. Higher weight, higher landing speed, something about velocity squared in the brake energy equation. I'm not good with math. They told me to be a pilot you had to be really good in math and like girls. I just got a waiver on the math thing. Cheers, Mo Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pilotdave 0 #4 July 2, 2005 What kind of plane? Airliners have fuel dump capabilites to drop weight in an emergency like that. Having a max takeoff weight higher than max landing weight is not uncommon. EDIT: just did a quick google search. The 777 for example has a higher max takeoff weight than max landing weight. Dave Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hooknswoop 19 #5 July 2, 2005 QuoteIs it bullshit? No, airliners take off all the time above max landing weight. If they have a problem, they fly around and burn fuel or dump it. If they don't have time and can't dump the fuel because they are over a populated area (although dumping a few thousand gallons of Jet-A on Houston might improve things) they may have to land above their max landing weight. This could easily blow a tire. Derek Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mx757 4 #6 July 2, 2005 it's true... the 767-300 have 6,090 gallons max fuel in EACH wing tank and 11,960 gallon fuel in center belly tank..that's just the usable fuel.. theres still another 200 gallons or so of unusable fuel in sump tanks, and .at 7 pound per gallon of fuel. how would you like to pay the fuel bill? that's some 25,200 gallons of fuel!! that's alot of weight.., to land in emergency they have fuel dumps at each wing tip. pilot can select how much fuel want to dump and flip switch... and it'll start dumping fuel... it'll come out as a mist. after aircraft dumps so much fuel.. and is under max landing weight they land. we've had few aircraft do over weight landings and they get ferry flighted to overhaul base and under go big "over weight landing " inspection due to landing over weight. takes couple of day to do over weight landing inspection..everything has to be checked..everything! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
diablopilot 2 #7 July 2, 2005 QuoteYeah,we do that all the time, we take/off at higher than maximum gross weight because we know some of that fuel has to burn till we land. that's a totally BS excuse. While I agree that is probably a BS excuse for the tire blow, many aircraft have a higher placarded max take off weight than their permisible max landing weight.---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
akjmpplt 0 #8 July 2, 2005 Probably not BS. I'd be a little concerned about dumping fuel if I had an engine on fire. Good chance the landing was over max allowable landing weight, good chance that caused the tire to blow. I worked Crash/Rescue for 20 years...saw this happen more than once when an aircraft landed at high weights and/or high landing speeds.SmugMug Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cloudseeker2001 0 #9 July 2, 2005 QuoteQuoteIs it bullshit? No, airliners take off all the time above max landing weight. If they have a problem, they fly around and burn fuel or dump it. If they don't have time and can't dump the fuel because they are over a populated area (although dumping a few thousand gallons of Jet-A on Houston might improve things) they may have to land above their max landing weight. This could easily blow a tire. Derek Yea, you right, but you know, I still have to live here! I could imagine the pilots trying to get the plane on the ground ASAP and blowing a tire on landing....yea no big deal, but then some office guy making up crap to feed the press and general public! "Some call it heavenly in it's brilliance, others mean and rueful of the western dream" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skylord 1 #10 July 3, 2005 Actually, an aircraft will dump fuel over a populated area if they have to. I was working a 747 that blew an engine going through about 9,000 ft, coming back over the shoreline eastbound over LAX. They had another problem with hydraulics, and wanted to get down on the ground. They dumped jet-a all over Palos Verdes. The idea is that the fuel is atomized on dumping and will be so dispersed that it is insignificant and non explosive. Another time out of SNA a 737 lost an engine and started dumping fuel out of about 1,500. Obviously they will land if they have to no matter what weight they are at. I do air traffic control, and not certification, but I think the max landing weight is based upon a higher than normal sink rate at what may euphemistically be called "touchdown". In other words, you can land over the max landing weight if you touch down lightly without overstressing the aircraft or its systems. And it is typical for commercial airliners that the max t/o weight is higher than the max landing weight. Last comment, I was on a flight back from Buenos Aires to Miami. We were in the air for about 90 minutes when we had to divert for a medical emergency. Our new destination was Bogota, Colombia, where Information Kilo is always current on the ATIS, if you catch my drift. (That is a pilot and illicit drug joke.) Anyway we STILL had to dump fuel before landing. Landing over weight, unless your technique is above average, will result in increased stress on the airframe, landing gear, and tires. Completely plausible that would cause a tire to blow, even if the landing was good. Braking the aircraft generates heat and stress, too. BobBob Marks "-when you leave the airplane its all wrong til it goes right, its a whole different mindset, this is why you have system redundancy." Mattaman Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
