PIA Airbus A320 With a Missing Landing Gear Wheel Lands Safely in Lahore

[danyal77W]

and why is it mostly all the time AP-BLS?

The only other AP-BLS incidents I recall have been a singular case of a pressurization failure and a couple bird strikes. I also doubt this is a failure of the aircraft itself so I don't see how that matters.

It is always BLS with the technical issues most of the time. Oh come on, there are quite a few cabin pressurization problems, Inertial Navigation Systems (INS) failures, hydraulic failures, all of them with AP-BLS. Please, check your facts again.

[AviationLover2020]

Its not only that the wheel came off during a normal takeoff (which in itself is a great cause for concern), but that this was then not noticed until *after* the flight landed and reported the wheel missing. The checks and balances systems are flawed not only in PIA but across the aviation sector in Pakistan. How is this meant to inspire confidence in passengers? Today it is a wheel, tomorrow something else - God forbid.

[Ronald_Arif]

It is surprising that the tire had no major visible bump or tear/fissures after falling off from such height and at high V1 velocity! I am now wondering if this tire actually belongs to that aircraft or taken off some junked A320 aircraft to cover all ends prior to overseas investigators arrive!

[Ronald_Arif]

THere are set procedures in place removal / replacement of tires on Airbus A320. Watch this video and I hope someone in PIA's Engineering Facility at Karachi also watches it.



Any less care or bypassing of important steps will result in what happened to PK306.Most likely, but not definitely, somebody did not torque the nut to specifications and/or did not lock-wire/cotter pin the nut in place. Most aircraft wheels are held by a single large nut on the axle, unlike a car with 5 nuts.

Other reasons the nut came off are; it cracked under stress (over-torqued?) or the wheel axle broke.

[Abbas Ali]

On March 18, PIA Airbus A320 aircraft registration AP-BLS returned to the skies when it left Lahore at 9:43 PM apparently as ferry flight PK6305 to Karachi. The aircraft remained on the ground at Lahore Airport for 144 hours 28 minutes. On March 12, as flight PK306 from Karachi it had landed at Lahore Airport at 9:15 PM with a missing wheel.


Source: flightradar24.com

Abbas