Passengers aboard incoming Finnair flight from Shanghai urged to prepare for emergency landing

Pieces of tyre tread shredded on take-off damaging landing gear hydraulics

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Passengers experienced moments of anxiety aboard the Monday afternoon Finnair flight returning from Shanghai.
      During take-off, the tread of one of the Airbus A340 aircraft’s wheels had suffered damage and as a result passengers were urged to assume the emergency landing position by putting their heads between their legs on landing.
      One of the airplane’s three hydraulics systems had been drained during the flight, and therefore it had become impossible to turn the plane’s front wheel.
      “The leak in the hydraulics system was caused by pieces of shredded rubber that had come loose from a wheel during take-off in Shanghai”, explained Finnair Airbus Group Manager Pekka Peräkylä.
      “Sometimes pieces come loose from the wheel coating, but this time it was just bad luck that such pieces should have struck the pressure hose directly. The tread loss was possibly a result of a batch production defect.”
     
”The atmosphere was somewhat tense, but nobody panicked”, passenger Sonja Klärck, who was seated in the mid section of the plane, reported to Helsingin Sanomat.
      “Before landing quite a few passengers went through the safety leaflet from the seat pocket in front of them.”
      According to Klärck, passengers were informed of the problem half an hour before landing.
      “In the first announcement we were told that pieces of tyre had been found on the Shanghai runway, but also that the tyre pressures on the aircraft were OK. Next we were shown in detail the nearest exits. Then we were told to put away any pieces of luggage and to put on our outdoor clothes. The emergency landing position was also demonstrated.”
      According to Finnair communications director Senja Larsen, it would not have been necessary to tell the passengers to assume the crash-landing position.
      “That was an extra precaution from the captain, but the manual does not call for it for this type of situations.”
     
The fire department was standing by when the plane landed. “We anticipated the plane’s wheels would heat up and start smoking. The fire department was present to cool them down. There was no danger of a fire starting, though”, explained Finnair communications officer Maria Mroue.
      In Klärck’s view, upon landing the plane perhaps shook slightly more than normally, and it came to a stop very quickly. After that the passengers were made to wait for the cooling of the brakes and the towing of the aircraft for half an hour. After having exited the aircraft Klärck noticed that one of the tyres had sustained damage.
      “It was visibly defective. Part of the outer layer on the tyre was broken, but not the entire wheel.”
      The airbus had to be towed away from the runway.
     
These types of situations are extremely rare, says Finnair deputy group manager Tero Takki. During his career there have been a couple of similar cases.
      According to Takki, this type of aircraft could land safely even if two of its hydraulics systems failed.
      Finnair will send the damaged tyre to the manufacturer to be examined.
      The Accident Investigation Board has launched an investigation into the incident.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finnair flight from Japan makes emergency landing - smell of smoke detected (24.9.2004)
  Bird hits Finnair plane´s engine; passengers to Thailand spend extra day in India (22.1.2009)
  Finnair flight from Malaga forced to put down in Amsterdam after engine failure (29.8.2007)

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Helsingin Sanomat