Wheel takes flight after falling off Air Canada plane

[MULTIZ321]

Wheel takes flight after falling off Air Canada plane.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/flight-wheel-pop-1.5415232

.


Richard

 

[CanuckTravlr]

Despite what the article says, Jazz is no longer an Air Canada subsidiary, nor has it been since 2006. It has always been a regional feeder airline operating under contract mostly with Air Canada. When operating under Air Canada contract, flights are shown as "Air Canada Express, operated by Jazz". Jazz Aviation LP is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chorus Aviation. The regional airline is headquartered in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

So the pilots are employees of Jazz Aviation and maintenance is also its responsibility, not Air Canada's. The "flames" are probably sparks caused by the wheel rotating and starting to come off its bolts as it came free of the ground. So I have to wonder what type of walk-around the pilots did before takeoff and what mechanic either left off the lug nuts or didn't sufficiently tighten them.? I guess the investigation will tell. At least no one was hurt, but there must be some significant embarrassment going on right now.

 

[jabberwocky]

Despite what the article says, Jazz is no longer an Air Canada subsidiary, nor has it been since 2006. It has always been a regional feeder airline operating under contract mostly with Air Canada. When operating under Air Canada contract, flights are shown as "Air Canada Express, operated by Jazz". Jazz Aviation LP is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chorus Aviation. The regional airline is headquartered in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

So the pilots are employees of Jazz Aviation and maintenance is also its responsibility, not Air Canada's. The "flames" are probably sparks caused by the wheel rotating and starting to come off its bolts as it came free of the ground. So I have to wonder what type of walk-around the pilots did before takeoff and what mechanic either left off the lug nuts or didn't sufficiently tighten them.? I guess the investigation will tell. At least no one was hurt, but there must be some significant embarrassment going on right now.

I know you are technically correct but at the end of the day AC does have their name and logo plastered on the plane. This is what customers see from their perspective:

AC has tried to bring all of these different companies (don't forget Air Georgian or Rouge) under a common brand and seamless booking experience. While this may be efficient it does have the downside that you are only as good as your weakest partner and when things like this happen it reflects on AC.

 

[CanuckTravlr]

I know you are technically correct but at the end of the day AC does have their name and logo plastered on the plane. This is what customers see from their perspective:

AC has tried to bring all of these different companies (don't forget Air Georgian or Rouge) under a common brand and seamless booking experience. While this may be efficient it does have the downside that you are only as good as your weakest partner and when things like this happen it reflects on AC.

I mostly agree with you, especially about public perception and a reputation being only as good as its weakest link. The point of my first paragraph was primarily to correct the error in the actual article that said Jazz was an AC subsidiary. Air Georgian, like Jazz Aviation, is also not an AC subsidiary, but only another privately-owned regional feeder airline operating under contract with AC Express livery. Many other airlines have similar arrangements for their feeder airlines. Air Canada Rouge, on the other hand, is an AC subsidiary and AC is directly responsible for the fleet's maintenance.

It still boggles my mind that somehow that loose wheel was missed by the pilot's pre-flight walk around. I can't wait to hear the explanations by the pilots and Jazz Aviation and the findings of the investigation. It should be interesting.

 

[x3 skier]

It still boggles my mind that somehow that loose wheel was missed by the pilot's pre-flight walk around. I can't wait to hear the explanations by the pilots and Jazz Aviation and the findings of the investigation. It should be interesting.

I check the tire pressure on my walk around but unless the wheel is misaligned or nuts or safety wire is missing, I’m not going to be able to determine if a wheel is loose or not. As you say, it will be interesting to see the root cause.

Cheers

 

[CanuckTravlr]

I check the tire pressure on my walk around but unless the wheel is misaligned or nuts or safety wire is missing, I’m not going to be able to determine if a wheel is loose or not. As you say, it will be interesting to see the root cause.

Cheers

I fully agree with you. I have no experience with this specific situation, so will be eagerly anticipating the outcome of the investigation. For the wheel to come off so quickly after takeoff, I am assuming some, if not most or all, of the lug nuts were already quite loose and/or missing. I would have thought that might have been visible to the pilot on a careful walk-around? Or could they have seemed visually tight and still have come off that quickly during the taxi and takeoff? I will defer to your obvious expertise, since I am extrapolating from my experience with car or truck wheels.