Incident Overview
Flight 702 experienced a hard landing during which the nosewheel tires failed upon touchdown. Witnesses observed the aircraft land with considerable force, and the tires blew when the nosewheel contacted the runway.
Witness Observations
Multiple witnesses stated that the airplane landed hard and that the tires 'blew' at the moment the nosewheel touched down. Their accounts formed the initial basis for the investigation.
Sink Rate Analysis
The investigation examined the nosewheel's rate of descent at touchdown. The normal sink rate for a nosewheel is approximately 1 foot per second. However, for Flight 702, the calculated rate of sink was 14.66 feet per second—more than fourteen times the standard value. This extreme descent rate subjected the nose gear to forces far beyond design parameters.
Tire Examination
Post-incident examination of the failed tires revealed that the failure was not due to heat from over-inflation or under-inflation conditions. The tire manufacturer conducted a detailed analysis and concluded that the tire failure was 'most likely' the result of the excessive forces applied during the nosewheel touchdown. No other contributing factors were identified by the manufacturer.