VietNamNet Bridge – The Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV) is expanding the scope of the search of the missing wheel of Vietnam Airlines’ ATR72 plane and asked for support from related provinces.

Vietnam Airlines plane loses a wheel at landing

The ATR72 that lost a wheel.

Concerning the case of the Vietnam Airlines plane which lost its wheel during a flight, Mr. Ho Minh Tan - Head of the Flight Safety Standard Department (CAAV), says that the shaft of the plane will be sent to the French aviation accident investigation agency (BEA) to be analyzed.

Tan explained that the fracture at the shaft is the reason for making the wheel fall out during the process of curling up and lowering the shaft.

However, until the morning of October 23, the debris and the missing wheel were not found yet.

"The CAAV is expanding the scope of the search and had called for support from provinces," Tan says.

Tan adds that analysis is needed to verify whether the plane shaft was broken by design, materials, or external conditions.

The investigation team of CAAV has finalized taking photographs, collecting evidence from the flight crew, related agencies, and transferred the black box to Hanoi for analysis.

However, the official conclusion will depend on BEA’s analysis, which is expected to finish in one month.

Concerning the issue that the aircraft landed safely then the problem was detected, Tan says that the crew and passengers felt unusual things, but that the unusual things were not very strong.

"Although the flight crew felt the control was a bit heavier than normal, in landing, if the tire was not full enough, the feel would be the same and it is not difficult for the landing process," Tan explains.

Tan confirms that before the plane took off, the safety checks were carried out in accordance with maintenance procedures and technicians found no unusual signs. But the axis was is in the tire, so it is difficult to detect by eyes whether it had cracks or was broken or not.

"The incident might be caused by manufacturing, material, or due to external forces or maintenance. It is unable to determine what was the main cause but through the surface of the shaft fracture, it is may be due to the material," Tan says.

Diep Vu