PASSENGERS on board a flight in England failed to tell cabin crew they had seen a wheel fall off the plane after take-off, an investigation into the incident has found.
The flight crew was alerted to the drama by air traffic control and when the captain asked a flight attendant to inspect the right landing gear, she was then informed by passengers of the loss.
The AAIB’s report found that, “A number of passengers seated on the right side of the aircraft noticed sparks emanating from the right inboard wheel area during the takeoff roll and saw the right inboard wheel fall from the aircraft as the landing gear retracted. They did not inform the cabin crew at this point.”
Later, after the cabin crew member was sent by the pilot to investigate, “The passengers informed the [cabin crew member] of the loss of the wheel and she could see that the gear was retracted and the landing gear doors were closed, but parts of the landing gear mechanism were protruding.”
Missing wheel from the Dash 8
A Flybe engineer was a passenger on the flight and was called over to confirm the cabin crew member’s observations.
The 58-year-old pilot made a mayday call and some passengers were moved away from the right-hand-side of the plane. The pilot landed the plane using the front and left landing gear before gently touching down with the one remaining right-hand wheel.
The Dash 8 aircraft had 39 passengers and four crew on board during the emergency.
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