What happened
On July 24, 2009, at approximately 2230 UTC, a Virgin Blue Boeing 737-700, registered VH-VBA, was taxiing for takeoff at Melbourne Airport when the nose landing gear axle failed. During the taxi maneuver, the right nosewheel separated from the nose landing gear leg. Despite the separation, the crew was able to taxi the aircraft back to the gate. There were no injuries resulting from the event.
The investigation
An initial examination of the landing gear revealed a region of fatigue cracking in the lower section of the landing gear axle, which led to the component failure. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) dispatched an investigation team to the airport to recover components for specialist examination.