A preliminary investigation by the Aviation Safety Council (ASC) showed that the brakes on the landing gear wheels of Uni Air flight B7901 malfunctioned during takeoff.
The flight, originating from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, landed at Kaohsiung Airport yesterday morning after three of its landing gear wheels had burst.
The council has created a taskforce to investigate the cause of the incident.
Guan Wen-ling (官文霖), one of the investigators, said the brakes must be activated to stop the wheels from rolling after the aircraft takes off.
However, the council found that information from the flight data recorder showed that the activation began 20 seconds before the aircraft had reached the V1 stage, meaning that the brakes were engaged while the wheels were still rolling on the ground.
Guan said data recorded by the cockpit voice recorder also showed the pilot had heard a “boom” before the V1 stage.
Council director Yang Hung-chi (楊宏智) said yesterday the council would attempt to determine why two tires also burst after landing in Kaohsiung.
Aside from looking at damage to the aircraft, the council will inspect tire tracks on the runway and look at maintenance records, he said.
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