# What happens when an Aircraft gets a flat upon landing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 22, 2005, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-an-aircraft-gets-a-flat-upon-landing/313659 "2005-07-22T16:03:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2005, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-an-aircraft-gets-a-flat-upon-landing/313659/1 "2005-07-22T16:03:34Z")
I was just wondering what happens when these two different aircraft get a flat upon landing? Commercial 747 Cesna Citation II I’d think the danger would happen on the cesna as they only have three wheels and are not doubled up in the back? I’m sure it would depend on which wheel blew as well… Pilots what say you? ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2005, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-an-aircraft-gets-a-flat-upon-landing/313659/2 "2005-07-22T16:18:45Z")
I though they used all-rubber tires? ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2005, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-an-aircraft-gets-a-flat-upon-landing/313659/3 "2005-07-22T16:21:16Z")
I don’t know about those specificly, but I flew into NY Kennedy once on an L1011 that blew 7 tires on landing. Nothing major happened, except being bused from the farthest corner of the field. The tires did catch fire, but the firetrucks were waiting for us, so they got it out quick. On the big jets, I’m pretty sure that fire extending into the wheel housing is the biggest problem ---
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2005, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-an-aircraft-gets-a-flat-upon-landing/313659/4 "2005-07-22T16:55:19Z")
When a medium sized airplane I was due to fly on got a flat upon landing the biggest problem was not having a spare tire. Due to the oddities of the plane, and the smallness of the airport, the plane was stuck their until a new tire could could be brought in\*. The tour group I was with ended up moving on to our next destination by means of safari vehicles, a boat, and a fleet of 15 passenger vans. \*Which was also complicated by the fact that this was a small airport in sub-Saharan Africa so planes could not fly after dark. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2005, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-an-aircraft-gets-a-flat-upon-landing/313659/5 "2005-07-22T18:24:31Z")
I can answer the 747 question: nothing really, it’s already designed for the contingency. The nose gear is designed to still function run-flat if a blowout occurred, and the main gear has so many tires that it would be barely noticeable. If it occured prior to takeoff, the plane would not be allowed to fly until the tire was fixed. Worst case is during very-hard-braking emergencies, when the brake disks can get white-hot, and a fire can result. A fire can ultimately explode a tire because of the high pressure in the tires. Note that a Concorde-type incident (tire pieces getting sucked into the engine) can’t happen on a 747 with the main gear (which are located aft of the engine inlets). ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2005, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-an-aircraft-gets-a-flat-upon-landing/313659/6 "2005-07-22T20:38:54Z")
IIRC, airliner tires have a blow out plug, so if the tire overheats and is going to blow it does so in a controlled manner, rather than disintegrating. ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2005, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-an-aircraft-gets-a-flat-upon-landing/313659/7 "2005-07-22T20:46:49Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > …Note that a Concorde-type incident (tire pieces getting sucked into the engine) can’t happen on a 747 with the main gear (which are located aft of the engine inlets). Not strictly true. In a thrown-tread incident, which is not uncommon with recapped tires (airliner tires are recapped lots of times) pieces of tread can be thrown forward and ingested by the engines. Incidentally, tire failures are more common on takeoff, when they are carryng the most weight. ---
**Author:** ![arrosen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@arrosen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/arrosen)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2005, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-an-aircraft-gets-a-flat-upon-landing/313659/8 "2005-07-22T20:48:59Z")
I was on a 747 that blew a tire on take off. The plane seemed to dip to the left a bit, but maybe that was my imagination. On landing, they took no special precautions other than to say that it might be a harder than normal landing. ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2005, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-an-aircraft-gets-a-flat-upon-landing/313659/9 "2005-07-22T21:27:47Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > Note that a Concorde-type incident (tire pieces getting sucked into the engine) can’t happen on a 747 with the main gear (which are located aft of the engine inlets). I thought the tire pieces pierced the fuel tanks in the wings. ---
**Author:** ![fortytwo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f9ae1b/32.png) [@fortytwo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fortytwo)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2005, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-an-aircraft-gets-a-flat-upon-landing/313659/10 "2005-07-22T23:18:23Z")
> [@postcards](#): > > I thought the tire pieces pierced the fuel tanks in the wings. You’re right. (there were other debatable points in that post too). As stated previously there is normally a plug fitted to the wheel which will release excess pressure to prevent a catastrophic blow out. A 747 has 16 main wheels so 1 burst tyre shouldn’t be a problem, the other 3 on the same bogie should take the load (assuming there was no explosion to damage the adjacent wheels and tyres). Wheels and tyres do get hot with excessive braking which is why they often have brake fans to cool them down, and also tyres on large commercial aircraft are commonly inflated with Nitrogen which acts as a fire suppressant.