Underinflated tires not only cause car accidents, they can cause planes to crash.
That’s why federal regulators have established stricter rules regarding the tire pressure on Learjets. It’s an attempt to prevent a fatal plane crash like the one involving Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker and the disc jockety DJ AM in 2008.
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The Federal Aviation Administration put out a directive Tuesday that orders U.S. operators of more than 200 model 60 Learjet business aircraft to do landing-gear inspections more often.
Underinflated tires have proven to be dangerous, and were cited as one of the causes of a crash of a charter Learjet carrying Travis and DJ AM in Columbia, S.C., as it tried to take off in September 2008. Travis and DJ AM were hurt, and four people died in the accident.
An investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board determined that the tires on the jet’s main landing gear were underinflated, and that the tires fell apart during the takeoff. Their pressure hadn’t been checked in three weeks.
Shards from the tires struck the Learjet’s brakes and hydraulic lines, disrupting other systems in the jet. That resulted in the pilot being unable to stop the plane, and it sped off the runway and crashed.
Under the new FAA rules, the tires on Learjet 60 model will have to be checked every four days.
The federal agency was aware that underinflated tires posed a safety hazard. A year ago the FAA put out a safety alert that told pilots to pay attention to tire pressure.
