Alone, I stood in the cordoned area looking at the remains of an F-16's left main gear wheel rim. A whirlwind Safety Investigation Board notice two days before placed me in this hangar with a table full of junk; a damaged F-16 sat behind me on jacks. Quietly, I contemplated the pieces, methodically shifting broken metal on a table until I had a deformed, but complete, F-16 main gear rim. Within an hour's time, I'd arranged the tire bits around the junk rim. Three days ago these were in airworthy condition. Results from the investigation into this mishap are of interest for two basic reasons. One is how foreign object debris (FOD) can totally ruin your day. Typically, FOD is considered a great danger to aircraft engines-especially turbines-and propellers, but not so much to tires. While both scenarios are to be avoided, a FOD'd tire can present substantial challenges to the pilot and has resulted in loss of aircraft and lives. The second thing we can find is a better understanding of how tires, rims and brakes can be damaged by FOD, and what can follow when they are.
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