MD-82 I-DACY Serious Incident at Rome Fiumicino Airport

Incident Overview and Flight History On 9 May 2009, at approximately 08:43 UTC, an MD-82 with registration I-DACY, operated by Alitalia CAI, was scheduled to fly from Rome Fiumicino to Naples. The aircraft, which had 127 passengers and 5 crew members on board, was assigned to stand 528 after arriving as flight AZ1460. It was then programmed as flight AZ1263 with a scheduled departure of 07:50 UTC. The aircraft was pushed back at 08:10 UTC and taxied via taxiways H, NG, and N to holding point BB12. ## Event Sequence During the takeoff roll on runway 25, pieces of the left main landing gear tire (wheel number 1) detached and were ingested by the left engine. Shortly after rotation, at approximately 200 feet, a compressor stall occurred in the left engine. The crew declared an emergency and initially intended to land on runway 16R, but subsequently changed to runway 16L. The aircraft landed without further issues. ## Damage and Aftermath The left engine sustained visible damage and was replaced during maintenance. Impact damage was found on the underside of the left wing, the left engine intake, and the engine cowling. Both left main landing gear wheels were replaced; wheel number 1 due to damage, and wheel number 2 as required by the maintenance manual due to weight limits exceeded from the deflated adjacent wheel. ## Related Incidents Within 30 minutes of the I-DACY pushback, two other aircraft—an A319 (EC-KBJ) and an A320 (EC-KLB)—experienced similar tire problems on the same side during taxiing. Both crews aborted their takeoff preparations without further technical consequences. Examination of their tires revealed damage similar to that on the I-DACY tire. ## Investigation and Findings The Italian National Agency for the Safety of Flight (ANSV) conducted the investigation in accordance with Annex 13 to the Chicago Convention. The flight data recorder was analyzed, but the cockpit voice recorder was not deemed necessary. The tire was found to be in a highly degraded state with a hole between the tread and shoulder, and showed signs of physical and thermal stress from rolling at near-zero pressure. The investigation was conducted solely for safety prevention purposes, excluding any assessment of fault or liability.