Former airline mechanic explains how Delta TechOps 'tire explosion' incident could have happened

Поділитися
Вставка
  • Опубліковано 29 жов 2024

КОМЕНТАРІ • 70

  • @contactpq
    @contactpq 2 місяці тому +33

    Im retired air force, worked aircraft maintenance as a crewchief, was on the ramp, right next to a friend of mine when he was knocked up into the air, and laid out by an exploding aircraft tire that he was servicing at the time...the air stem of the tire when through one of his eyes, he survived but lost that eye of course .. at first everyone assumed he was doing something wrong...but it turned out that the equipment gauge was faulty and was reading less pressure than it was actually delivering causing the tire to be over inflate and explode

    • @danielkapp9468
      @danielkapp9468 2 місяці тому +11

      I almost had a trailer tire explode on me without realizing it because the pressure gauge being faulty. The company I was working for was too cheap to replace it. It was measuring 40psi when it was actually 110! For trailer tires rated for 45... After I had a blowout 200 miles down the road trailer went to a tire shop who made the discovery. I told my bosses who proceeded to try and blame me and said it was fine. I pitched that damn thing the first moment I got back. All for a $15 pressure gauge. Now I always will try and check with 2 different gauges to verify pressure.

  • @RodManFB
    @RodManFB 2 місяці тому +31

    I have experience with aircraft tire maintenance. How this clown was located for interview is another piece of Main Stream Media’s rush to judgment!

    • @dyates6380
      @dyates6380 2 місяці тому +6

      I couldn't agree more. This was pretty disrespectful - especially based on the fact the official cause hasn't been released, nor has the investigation even been completed most likely. Wow.

    • @davidclark3304
      @davidclark3304 Місяць тому

      A news report last week stated that an "aircraft explosion" killed two workers. One wonders who writes these things.

    • @jasonpfannenstiel9315
      @jasonpfannenstiel9315 Місяць тому

      Thank you! I was going to say the same thing. It’s one thing discussing theories between mechanics, but going on the news to spread your unconfirmed theories is messed up.

    • @petersplat6164
      @petersplat6164 Місяць тому

      Yeah, where did they dig this guy up. He has no idea what he's talking about. I worked in maintenance in many capacities for one of the largest airlines in the US, and I have no idea wtf he's talking about! He knows nothing about a wheel and brake shop. The tire was already removed from the plane, so it has nothing to do with the axle nut. The metal tire rims are in 2 pieces with many bolts holding the 2 halves together. If the rim halves are disassembled with pressure in the tire, it will explode during disassembly.

  • @vintageracer3734
    @vintageracer3734 2 місяці тому +18

    I would say the tire wasn't deflated, and when the tire change crew removed the axle nut on a failed wheel or possibly bolts or both, a bomb unleashed. Chunks of alloy meets flesh at a super high rate of speed/force. But I wasn't there...but I have changed/re-built/serviced/NDI'd bolts(yes bolts break/fail) a FEW wheel/tires assemblies/wheel halves in my day...and at one point worked/supervised a wheel/tire shop in the CHair Force on heavy jets...more stories than anyone wants to hear, or be a part of...you either die or get hurt really bad. Most people are shredded...depends on the size of the wheel coming apart. If your lucky you only lose an arm, or your sight. Maybe part of your face. If its really bad, you are simply shredded, as in you appear as if you were in a wood chipper. No shit...you can say its a dangerous work environment. True, but you have to remain focused at work. If you follow the manuals, etc you have pretty good odds. I heard an eyewitness account of a kid in the Chair Force who main lined, direct 3000 PSI into a Lockheed Jet Star Main wheel (C-140A) while it was installed, after a tire change. They had to wash him off the walls. Wheel failed almost immediately. It was my room mate at the time, who was in the cabin of the aircraft, and the new guy was below, trying to be helpful without any training. I wanted to add this, as I am sure more than a few mechs will read this...pass this along. If you break torque on the axle nut and the wheel follows the seating surface of the nut, and remains difficult to turn, well that means stop and find out why. Chances are good the wheel is separating as you back off the nut. Use the correct deflator tool. Yes, there is one...I didn't use them to much but I should have. Also, before you break torque, quick glance at the wheel bolts. Any missing, or falling out? Could save your life, or your co-workers. I been working on aircraft of 40 years now...I am at the shop right now. No one wants to see a fellow mechanic get hurt. Its a fucking thankless career working for some of the worst people on this earth...

    • @mikethompson3534
      @mikethompson3534 Місяць тому +3

      I couldn’t agree with you more. I am just wondering if management had something to do with this tragedy. Management will preach safety at briefing all the time but when aircraft is delayed due to a tire change or the shop needs new wheels assembly to be built. Management safety briefing goes out the door all safety precautions are irrelevant and pressures mechanics to hurry up and basically disregard procedures for their convenience and blame mechanics if something goes horribly wrong this is the new generation of management at most airlines now,by the way I have been a licensed mechanic for well over 40 years and have seen what these evil managers get away with

    • @vintageracer3734
      @vintageracer3734 Місяць тому +1

      @@mikethompson3534 If I had to place a root cause, I would say compliancy is the primary cause. Those guys have probably done this job a thousand times. It only take the single time. And you know the energy that is released is brutal, instantaneous, and unforgiving! I have never wanted to be in aircraft maintenance management. Babysitting is not my thing, and I think telling someone to hurry up when doing this kind of work is criminal. Friend of mine us to say, "It takes as long as it takes" I am a rotary wing guy now, no more tires and brakes for me! Helicopters will ALWAYS confuse me, but they are easy to work on!

  • @rdmgwinn
    @rdmgwinn 2 місяці тому +24

    After weight is removed from the tire it is required to be deflated before removing from the aircraft. A pressurized tire should of NEVER been delivered to the shop. An inflated defective tire (it was removed from the aircraft for a reason) is a bomb just waiting to go off. Someone made a huge mistake and no one else caught the error until it went off.

    • @mikemicksun6469
      @mikemicksun6469 2 місяці тому +2

      They jack up the tire and deflate which makes sense.

    • @fastst1
      @fastst1 2 місяці тому +10

      Every one of those procedures has been written in blood.

    • @jimcooksc
      @jimcooksc 2 місяці тому +6

      I did not do tires on commercial aircraft, but in the usaf you deflate the tire and remove the valve stem core on the flight line. This is check again when the tire is brought into the shop. It is checked a third time before starting maintenance on the tire. Aircraft tires use 😂😊a split rim. The rim is two halves bolted together over the tire. At Griffiss AFB in NY we lost 2 airmen when started to unbolt a rim with pressure still on the tire. They did nor check, the airman bringing the tire into the shop did not check and the airman removing the tire did follow procedure. While it varies depending on the tire and aircraft, the tires may have as much as 300 PSI inside them.

  • @USNveteran
    @USNveteran 2 місяці тому +16

    Former military aircraft mechanic & retired major airline A&P here. Either the tire came into the shop without being deflated, or they were inflating one without using a cage, or could have been a equipment malfunction. Just another example of how dangerous this business is and how important it is to follow procedures. Unfortunately during my years I have seen people killed, and also maimed for life. My sympathy to the families of those lost in this. FLY NAVY!!!

    • @Angel-yo9lo
      @Angel-yo9lo 2 місяці тому +1

      I have been in aviation over 25 yrs. & I tell ppl how dangerous our job really is. Be careful this is very unfortunate.

    • @jebb125
      @jebb125 Місяць тому

      5 years military , 40 years A&P here, we could not remove the wheel/tire unless it was deflated down to say 20pis and reinstalled or entirely if it was getting replaced, then tagged as deflated before it was routed to the back shop.

    • @USNveteran
      @USNveteran Місяць тому

      @@jebb125 4 years military, 37 A&P. Our jacks were powered from the nitrogen in the tires. By the time you got the wheels off the ground the tire pressure was down to maybe 50 psi. Then when we put the old tire on the trailer we were required to take the valve core out of it, otherwise stores would not replenish the tires on the trailer. FLY NAVY!!!

    • @Snaproll47518
      @Snaproll47518 Місяць тому

      @@Angel-yo9lo I retired after 52 years of aircraft maintenance, USMC, major airline, aircraft manufacturer. In my career I know of four mechanics being killed and countless injuries. Two of the fatalities were crushed by the NLG doors on the Airbus and two were killed when a bucket truck tipped over.

  • @Alan-tw6yo
    @Alan-tw6yo Місяць тому +1

    Not going to try and pass judgment as to who or what was at fault or where to place blame, but when I first heard this story my heart sunk. I stopped and thought how blessed I am to be able to be retired healthy after 36 years as an line amt for a major airline. It’s rewarding but unbelievably dangerous. My sincere condolences to their families.

  • @Face-u3m
    @Face-u3m 2 місяці тому +17

    Said nothing
    Waste of my data

  • @08jk74x
    @08jk74x 2 місяці тому +16

    Bernie sanders there didn’t really add much value to the story

    • @mikemicksun6469
      @mikemicksun6469 2 місяці тому +1

      He was clueless on what the tech area does.

    • @harperwc
      @harperwc 2 місяці тому +2

      he didn't "explain" anything.

    • @lookylook570
      @lookylook570 2 місяці тому +1

      A talking head…..

    • @charlescanton4740
      @charlescanton4740 2 місяці тому +2

      More like a word salad from the former president.

  • @joncox9719
    @joncox9719 2 місяці тому +11

    As a retired Aircraft Engineer and IA Inspector, airplanes are extremely dangerous to work around, proppellers spinning, high pressure tires, high pressure nitrogen and oxygen bottles, jet engine intakes while running. Airplanes and helicopters have a thousand ways to kill you if you are not planning and preparing for the worst! Very unforgiving environment!

  • @klutchdust4346
    @klutchdust4346 Місяць тому +1

    I am a survivor of a multi piece semi trailer tire explosion. Trailer /chassis came into the tire shop with an inside flat. After loosening all 5 lugs and tapping the wheel to loosen the wedges ( nuts were still holding the wedges on) the tire exploded, tearing the studs out of the hub and . The tire/rim struck me on the left hand and left leg as I was crouched over towards the rim. My hand was fractured in 17 places and my left leg fractured below the knee. The explosion threw me about 30 feet. Investigation revealed that when these container chassis were assembled, it was common to install deflated tires onto the axle, then air them up and let them roll. Now, if the ring did not properly seat the only thing holding the wheel rim /ring combination together is the fact it is fastened to the hub and the lugs are tight. Once healed and back to work after a year of rehab (LAHarbor)We inspected stacks of chassis coming in and found numerous lock rings not seated and the tires were inflated . These accidents still happen today despite the warnings and tire cages available to air up these tires.

    • @Phantom-309-e9p
      @Phantom-309-e9p Місяць тому

      When I was a 20 year old pup, I mounted a split rim up on a Dayton hub. Got the truck ready to roll then the trip delayed. Having noticed something else in the wheel area that needed attention, I took it back apart. One gentle tap on a wedge and the split rim jumped off the inside dual so violently that one of the studs blew out of the hub and through the wall. I got very particular about mounting split rims after that. Any little thing didn’t seem right and that rim was torched and in the iron pile!

  • @natalia-grace
    @natalia-grace 2 місяці тому +8

    This guy talking is a *former* meaning, he wasn’t on scene to talk about what happened…

  • @Snaproll47518
    @Snaproll47518 Місяць тому

    Former airline mechanic here that has changed hundreds of tires in my career. Step one is to deflate the tire before removing the axle nut. It’s unclear from media reports as to whether the tire exploded while being removed from the aircraft or in the shop.

  • @topofthegreen
    @topofthegreen 2 місяці тому +5

    Well airlines push mechanics to complete jobs quickly.

    • @mikethompson3534
      @mikethompson3534 Місяць тому

      Absolutely these management are just evil people that are being hired now days ,as most of them have less than 3 years total experience working on aircraft and just want bragging rights how fast he got the job done

    • @petersplat6164
      @petersplat6164 Місяць тому

      I was a line mechanic for Delta for 35 years. In all those years, I was never encouraged to cut corners or like hurry up and get done. Efficiency was encouraged as any reasonable operation would. If you were a dead ass, then you were called a dead ass. We all knew what good maintenance was, and I never experienced management pressure to just wrap it up. All of our middle managers were recent mechanics, never from outside the company.
      You guys have been abused somewhere, but not at Delta.

  • @daveblevins3322
    @daveblevins3322 2 місяці тому +1

    High pressurized tires, and old split rim designs are very dangerous if any etep is missed in servicing.

  • @gomez2724
    @gomez2724 Місяць тому

    From the sound of this report it seems the tire was being serviced before returning it to service, initial reports made it sound like it was sent to the shop fully serviced. If the Fing media would do their job and investigate the story before reporting it would be nice.

  • @johnschneider4160
    @johnschneider4160 2 місяці тому +3

    Who are YOU to assume and pass judgement??? You've lowered yourself to the level of Dan Gryder.

  • @shamarone
    @shamarone Місяць тому

    step #1: DEFLATE any questionable tire...
    don't assume that just because it survived the extreme forces of a landing that it's going survive the delicate forces of being moved around or the forces of having it accidently fall over...
    if the standard 90-110psi of a Semi Truck tire can kill you, how much more dangerous then is a tire inflated to 200psi.

  • @privateuser1780
    @privateuser1780 Місяць тому

    Aircraft tire exploding can turn your insides out, doesn't have to be shrapnel. One of the deceased could only be identified by his tattoos.

  • @sb859
    @sb859 Місяць тому

    "A source close to the investigation..." No, you dug up a guy from home who worked on planes 20 years ago...

  • @ronwade5646
    @ronwade5646 2 місяці тому +2

    Why is this being kept secret? There's a lot we aren't being told, stinks of a cover up.

    • @sammyday3341
      @sammyday3341 2 місяці тому +1

      Professional transportation investigators do their work methodically and meticulously before releasing results. Guessing for our sake is not their goal.

    • @TenMinuteTrips
      @TenMinuteTrips Місяць тому

      Here’s an example of yet another conspiracy theorist ginning up a conspiracy theory where none exists. Nobody’s keeping anything secret. The investigation isn’t complete. Period.
      I certainly don’t have all of the facts, but at the airline where I worked, the schrader valve core is removed from the valve stem, and the tire is deflated, almost as soon as the tire and wheel assembly is removed from the landing gear wheel hub. A removed tire and wheel assembly should never arrive at the tire shop in an inflated condition. Nobody’s keeping this a secret. We just don’t have all of the facts.

  • @lmfarms4611
    @lmfarms4611 Місяць тому

    I always thought that there was a cage for high pressure tires to be put into before any work was done to it.

    • @av8rshane491
      @av8rshane491 Місяць тому

      There is when the tire is in the shop but if it’s on the aircraft and is just getting serviced on the ramp you fill to spec while on the airplane. Small shops may not even have a cage.

  • @stevenrobinson2381
    @stevenrobinson2381 2 місяці тому +1

    Oopsie. Not cool at all. Aircraft wheels & tires are potential bombs & this unfortunate accident proves that. From a guy that spent many many moons in that industry licensed A& P mech now retired. Compliancy kills. BIGTIME

  • @johnpipping3848
    @johnpipping3848 Місяць тому

    You haven’t explained a single thing in this video. It is self evident that a pressurised tyre and wheel combination exploded and caused shrapnel which killed the two engineers, but nowhere do you expand upon that fact. Very poor journalism.

  • @stevenmorris2293
    @stevenmorris2293 Місяць тому

    Doesn’t explain what happened.

  • @theodoreskaff1209
    @theodoreskaff1209 Місяць тому

    They stopped using split rims on trucks 30 years ago. Im surprised aircraft still use them. Seems there would be a better design than that.

    • @concankid4202
      @concankid4202 Місяць тому

      It's technically a split ring but not at all like the ones on trucks. The outside ring has 18 bolts around the outside edge that completely secures the tire against the inside ring. The only hole in the outside ring is the one that goes on the axle.

    • @theodoreskaff1209
      @theodoreskaff1209 Місяць тому

      Thanks!

  • @cdk68
    @cdk68 2 місяці тому

    So informative………

  • @lutomson3496
    @lutomson3496 Місяць тому

    safety third...which killed ....

  • @petersplat6164
    @petersplat6164 Місяць тому

    Jeez, I hope the NTSB has better than this guy.

  • @nedsackmann2215
    @nedsackmann2215 Місяць тому

    The dirty dozen, safty rules not followed, complacency was my weak link,i can see how this happened.

  • @joaquinmartinez2106
    @joaquinmartinez2106 2 місяці тому

    Were this people mechanics? Or helpers?

  • @cindycreateforlife
    @cindycreateforlife 2 місяці тому

    My first question was, were they using a tire cage?

    • @redcat9436
      @redcat9436 2 місяці тому +1

      They wouldn't be using a cage if they were disassembling the wheel.

    • @mikethompson3534
      @mikethompson3534 Місяць тому

      @@redcat9436I think he meant inflating the tire after wheel assembly

  • @3-2-1-.
    @3-2-1-. 2 місяці тому +3

    The only way a tire explodes is under pressure. No tire should be removed while under pressure. This rule is due to so many getting hurt or killed. Delta is woke. DEI led to this, if it wasn't the sole culprit. Also, these big corporations are under huge pressure to stay on schedule. They have no problem rushing mechanics, because they aren't the ones who get hurt if the job goes boom.

    • @TenMinuteTrips
      @TenMinuteTrips Місяць тому

      Nothing like throwing out some racist dog whistles. “Woke.” “DEI.”
      Really dude? How about “complacency?” How about failing to follow accepted safety protocols? How about considering the entire event chain or actual contributing factors that led to this unfortunate incident? How about some respect for the surviving families. You can’t do that, can you? I thought not. You needed to go right for the woke, DEI nonsense. You are a pathetic human being. And shame on the people who “liked” your comment.

    • @petedog9581
      @petedog9581 Місяць тому

      Low wages and shit benes get less qualified employees, and greedy employers don't provide proper training. Not DEI.

    • @petersplat6164
      @petersplat6164 Місяць тому

      I worked line maintenance for Delta for 35 years. Woke? Wtf is that supposed to mean here? We were never under huge pressure to stay on schedule. A good mechanic can explain the reason for any delay, and that was always good enough. A crappy mechanic just mumbles, complains, and shifts the blame to woke.

  • @Shakazulu0
    @Shakazulu0 2 місяці тому +5

    Sounds like they weren't following a MOP.

    • @The_Unintelligent_Speculator
      @The_Unintelligent_Speculator 2 місяці тому +2

      Most likely, and there will be many underlying issues leading up to the event.

    • @mikethompson3534
      @mikethompson3534 Місяць тому

      @@The_Unintelligent_Speculatoryes very true possible management issues also