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Link Airways has proactively replaced a model of landing gear wheel across its Saab 340B fleet following a fracture at Melbourne Airport earlier this year.
VH-VEF had landed at Melbourne from Orange on 1 April when a post-flight inspection indicated a deflated main landing gear tyre and a missing section of the inner wheel rim, though no other damage or abnormalities were reported.
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According to the ATSB, similar wheel fractures had been investigated in 2009 and 2019.
“The fractured wheel and cracked wheel on the same landing gear leg were of a design that was previously established to be susceptible to cracking in the bead seat region,” said ATSB director of transport safety Dr Stuart Godley.
“From the evidence available, ultimately the factors contributing to the fracture and cracking of the wheels could not be conclusively determined.
“Nevertheless, the constant factor in this occurrence, and those previously investigated, was the susceptibility of the pre‑redesign wheel subassembly to fracture.”
Link Airways, though not required to, subsequently replaced the affected wheel type across its entire fleet. According to Godley, in each of the three wheel‑fracture events investigated in Australia, there was no significant adverse safety outcome.
“The 3 wheel-fracture occurrences investigated by the ATSB indicate that as long as these specific wheels continue to be operated with the existing inspection regime, there remains an increased likelihood of in-service wheel fracture,” Dr Godley concluded.
“However, the susceptible wheel subassemblies appear to make up only a small percentage of those currently in service, based on the records of the overhaul organisation, and so the likelihood of in-service fracture would be respectively small.”
“As such, the ATSB considers the ongoing safety risk presented by the ongoing use of these wheels to be low.”
Link Airways currently operates 12 Saab 340Bs in its fleet, with an average age of 29.5 years. The airline has been contacted for comment.
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