What happened
On 1 August 2001, a McDonnell Douglas DC-8-62, registration 9G-MKK, was performing a practice Ground Controlled Approach (GCA) at Kent International Airport, Manston. The aircraft was operating a cargo flight arriving from Cairo.
Upon landing on Runway 10, the aircraft reached the runway at the appropriate airspeed and touched down in the correct position. However, the automatic extension of the spoilers failed to trigger upon mainwheel contact, causing the aircraft to bounce. Following a second touchdown, the spoilers finally deployed, and the crew initiated braking. During the subsequent rollout, the crew observed what they believed to be bursting tyres and notified the control tower. The tower controller also observed tyres deflating and reported seeing brief flames. The aircraft came to a halt on the runway, and the crew evacuated the aircraft without injury.
The investigation
Investigators examined the damage to the landing gear and the aircraft's systems. Post-incident inspections revealed that three tyres (numbered 1, 5, and 7) had deflated. The aircraft also sustained minor damage to a hydraulic pipe.
The commander suggested that a malfunction in the anti-skid system was responsible for both the failure of the spoilers to extend and the lack of locked wheel protection. However, maintenance engineers for the operator were unable to find any evidence of defects within the anti-skid system. Following the replacement of the damaged wheels and the leaking hydraulic component, the aircraft continued to operate for many hours using the same anti-skid hardware without further incident.