Boeing 747-400 VT-AIM
20 December 2005 · Los Angeles, California, United States · No injuries
Summary
On 20 December 2005 at about 04:30 local time, a Boeing 747-400 registered VT-AIM, operated by Air India, was involved in an accident near Los Angeles, California, United States. 273 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.
The record
- Date
- at 04:30
- Classification
- Accident
- Location
- Los Angeles, California, United States
- Nearest airport
- Los Angeles Intl (KLAX)
- Coordinates
- 33.9425, -118.4133
- Aircraft
- Boeing 747-400
- Registration
- VT-AIM
- Category
- Airplane
- Engines
- 4
- Operator
- Air India
- Operating rule
- Part 129: Foreign
- Phase of flight
- Not recorded
- Route
- Los Angeles → Frankfurt
- Aircraft damage
- Substantial
- Weather
- VMC
- Light
- Night
- NTSB number
- LAX06FA063
People
Nobody was injured.
| On board | Died | Serious | Minor | Uninjured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 273 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 273 |
Probable cause
the incorrect installation of the inflation valve cores in the number 11 and number 12 wheel assemblies that allowed the tires to be operated in an over deflected condition that resulted in their failure.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.
Read the full NTSB narrative
The four right main body landing gear tires burst during the takeoff ground roll, and the crew performed a precautionary landing. Pieces of the tires and wheel assemblies penetrated the fuselage structure and the airplane incurred substantial damage. Post accident examination revealed that the valve cores on three of the four inflation valves, including the two aft valves, were not torqued to the manufacturer's specifications and leaked steadily. Examination of the right aft main body landing gear tires (number 11 and 12) showed that they were operated in an over deflected condition at some point prior to the event, which resulted in internal damage to the tires. The aft tires failed first as a result of the internal damage and initiated the accident sequence. Damage to the forward tires was consistent with the tires bursting due to their impact by debris from the aft tires.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.
Other Boeing 747 accidents
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 Feb 2005 | Boeing 747-400 | Manchester, United Kingdom | British Airways | No injuries | - |
| 19 Aug 2005 | Boeing 747-200 | Agana, United States | - | Minor injuries | - |
| 4 Jul 2005 | Boeing 747-200B | Sapporo, Japan | Kalitta Flying Service Inc | Unknown | - |
| 1 Feb 2006 | Boeing 747 | Istanbul, Turkey | Cargolux | Unknown | - |
| 5 Dec 2004 | Boeing 747SR-146B SF | Anchorage, Alaska, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 23 Apr 2006 | Boeing 747-400 | Denver, Colorado, United States | - | No injuries | - |
Other accidents in this area
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28 May 2005 | Robinson R44 | Lucerne Valley, California, United States | - | Serious injuries | - |
| 28 May 2005 | S A Centrair PEGASE 101D | Williams, California, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 30 May 2005 | Cessna 172N | Stockton, California, United States | Luis Rivara | No injuries | - |
| 27 Dec 2005 | Socata TBM 700 | Lancaster, California, United States | - | Minor injuries | - |
| 28 Dec 2005 | Learjet 35A | Truckee, California, United States | - | Fatal | 2 |
| 8 Sep 2005 | Robinson R22 | Santa Clarita, California, United States | Orbic Helicopters | No injuries | - |