B737-700 flight crew reported aircraft vibration after take-off. Dispatch informed the flight crew that Tower had observed a blown tire on take-off and the flight crew elected to continue to landing at destination airport.
Synopsis
B737-700 flight crew reported aircraft vibration after take-off. Dispatch informed the flight crew that Tower had observed a blown tire on take-off and the flight crew elected to continue to landing at destination airport.
Narrative
On take-off at V1; the aircraft experienced moderate vibration. I immediately rotated the aircraft at Vr; dismissing the delayed rotation for the wind shear profile; since the aircraft was accelerating rapidly and consistently. The vibration stopped once airborne. At the time it seemed apparent that the nose gear or nose wheels were causing the vibration; however upon further assessment I was not sure which gear or wheel had caused the vibration. We cleaned up and climbed normally. ATC was giving us vectors to avoid the numerous thunderstorms in the area. My First Officer (FO) and I had a short discussion on what might have caused the vibration as we navigated around the storms. Once clear of the weather we immediately received a message from Dispatch that the Tower reported that we had blown a tire on take-off. After reviewing AOM; non normal landing on a flat tire; we discussed options and decided to continue to ZZZ1. This was the best option to burn off fuel with long dry runways at sea level. It was also an online Maintenance station and delivered our passengers to their destination. Returning to ZZZ was not an option due to the weather and wet runways. I contacted our Dispatcher via Company radio with the plan; asked them to [request priority handling]; have the ZZZ1 station prepared for a possible tow to the gate; and to have Airport Rescue and Firefighting (ARFF) waiting upon our arrival. Our Dispatcher was in agreement with the plan. I briefed the Flight Attendants and passengers of the status of the aircraft and that we would experience a landing with possible vibrations during the roll out. I assured all that I was not concerned about the landing; but we would have ARFF vehicles standing by as an extra measure of safety and they could inspect the aircraft before we taxied to the gate. On approach I extended the gear early to assure proper function. The landing gear extended normally. However; we did not have a green left main gear safe light on the front panel but had all three green on the overhead panel. Having the left main green light out on the front panel confirmed that the vibration and tire/s failure was most likely on the left main gear.I asked the Tower to observe our landing gear on our approach. They confirmed that all landing gear appeared to be down. I landed normally with a flaps 40 setting for slower speed. Touchdown was soft and the aircraft settled with left wing low. I had to use the right rudder to keep the center line during deceleration. I used reverse thrust to slow the aircraft primarily then used light braking while using most of the runway to stop and not to stress the remaining tire unnecessarily. ARFF assessed the aircraft; and it was determined that it was safe to taxi to the gate. I had them follow us to the gate. The aircraft had lost the recap on the inboard left main gear tire; and I believe it was deflated as well. It damaged the flaps and sections on the wing. A part of the tire was in the wheel well which interfered with the landing gear indication system micro switches. I made a logbook entry and turned the aircraft over to Maintenance.
Second reporter narrative
On take-off we experienced moderate aircraft vibration at V1. The Captain rotated the aircraft at VR and the vibration stopped once airborne. We cleaned up and climbed normally. ATC was giving us vectors to avoid the numerous thunderstorms in the area. The Captain and I had a short discussion on what might have caused the vibration as we navigated around the storms. Once clear of the weather we immediately received a message from Dispatch that the Tower reported that we had blown a tire on take-off. After reviewing AOM; non normal landing on a flat tire; we discussed options and decided to continue to ZZZ1. This was the best option to burn off fuel with long dry runways at sea level. It was also an online Maintenance station and delivered our passengers to their destination. The Captain contacted our Dispatcher via Company radio with the plan; asked them to [request priority handling]; have the ZZZ1 station prepared for a possible tow to the gate; and to have Airport Rescue and Firefighting (ARFF) waiting upon our arrival. Our Dispatcher was in agreement with the plan. We suspected that it was a Nose Tire that caused the vibration; however after further assessment and talking with the Flight Attendants we recognized that it could be the main gear tire as well. The Captain briefed the Flight Attendants and passengers of the status of the aircraft and that we would experience a landing with possible vibrations during the roll out. They assured them we weren't concerned about the landing but we would have ARFF vehicles standing by as a safety precaution and so they could inspect the aircraft before we taxied to the gate. On approach we extended the gear early to assure proper function. The landing gear extended normally. However; we did not have a green left main gear safe light on the front panel but had all three green on the overhead panel. Having the left main gear safe light out on the front panel confirmed that the vibration and tire/s failure was most likely on the left main gear. We asked the Tower to observe our landing gear on our approach. They confirmed that all landing gear appeared to be down. The Captain landed normally with a flaps 40 setting for slower speed. Touchdown was soft and the plane settled with left wing low. They were able to use the right rudder to maintain centerline during deceleration. They used reverse thrust to slow the aircraft primarily then used light braking while using most of the runway to stop and not to stress the remaining tire unnecessarily. ARFF assessed the aircraft and it was determined that it was safe to taxi to the gate. We had them follow us to the gate. The aircraft had lost the recap on the inboard left main gear tire and appeared to be deflated as well. It damaged the flaps and sections on the wing. A part of the tire was in the wheel well which interfered with the landing gear indication system micro switches. The Captain made a logbook entry and turned the aircraft over to Maintenance.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.