The UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) has published new insights following an incident involving a Ryanair jet at Manchester Airport. The bulletin explains that shortly after landing around 0045hrs on March 17 2022, the outboard wheel on the left main gear of EI-ENF (c/n 35034) failed. This caused a hydraulic leak from the brake piston, with the heat generated by the misaligned wheel resulting in hydraulic fluid combusting and starting a fire.
Detailing the timeline of events, the AAIB said the Boeing 737-800 made a normal approach and landed on Manchester’s Runway 23R. The crew were cleared to taxi to a stand at Terminal 3 – Ryanair’s home at the Mancunian gateway.
According to the bulletin: “Once on the taxiway, the crew found that to maintain the normal taxi speed, a thrust of 40% N1 – which is higher than normal – was required. The crew considered that it was likely to be a flat tyre so continued to taxi to the terminal. With the increased thrust there was no noticeable difficulty in maintaining the aircraft in a straight line.”
However all was not as it initially seemed. As the Boeing approached its stand, the flight deck crew heard a radio transmission requesting the airport’s fire service attend an aircraft w…
