Aircraft Loses Tire During Takeoff and Makes Emergency Landing

Bellanca Loses Tire During Takeoff and Makes Emergency Landing

A Bellanca 8KCAB, registration N5500W, experienced a loss of a tire during takeoff at Salina Regional Airport in Kansas on May 7, 2018. The aircraft was in the takeoff phase when the problem occurred, leaving the crew with a landing-gear abnormality and what the ATC recording described as dangling hardware.

The incident record identifies the event as occurring at 19:32 UTC. No injuries were reported. The aircraft was not missing, and the available record classifies the event as an incident rather than a fatal accident.

Losing a tire during takeoff creates a problem that may not require an immediate return to the runway. The aircraft can remain airborne, but the landing configuration has changed. The crew must determine what remains attached to the landing gear, whether the aircraft is controllable, how much fuel is available and what runway or landing surface offers the best chance of a safe touchdown.

The ATC recording is particularly useful because it captures the uncertainty around the damaged landing gear. Controllers need to know what the crew sees and what the aircraft can safely do. The crew, meanwhile, has to keep the airplane flying while evaluating the abnormal condition.

The available public information does not establish the exact reason the tire separated. It also does not provide a final maintenance finding explaining whether the tire itself failed, a wheel component failed or another part of the landing gear caused the loss.

That limitation is important. The incident is visually dramatic, but a dramatic landing-gear abnormality does not automatically reveal the initiating failure.

The aircraft was able to remain airborne after the tire loss. The crew then executed an emergency landing rather than allowing the damaged configuration to develop into a runway accident.

No injury was reported. The aircraft's damage status is listed as unknown in the public incident data, so no more specific damage claim should be made.

The event also shows why a landing-gear emergency can involve more than the missing tire itself. A wheel or tire separating can leave other components exposed to aerodynamic forces, and those components can create additional drag or interference. The phrase dangling hardware in the incident title reflects the visible concern but does not establish the engineering condition of every component.

The public record is limited to the ATC reconstruction and incident database entry. No authoritative accident report identifying a final cause was located in the available public record.

Accident Facts

Sources

• Video source (ATC/audio reconstruction)
• ATC recording and contemporary reporting
• Public incident information identifying N5500W, Salina Regional Airport and the May 7, 2018 occurrence.
• Video/ATC recording