Tires And Tubes

The following is derived from maintenance facility submissions to the FAA’s Service Difficulty Reports database.

Aviation Safety

Saturday, November 09, 2024 at 06:00 AM ET

Verified

Edited By: Omar Filipovic

Key Takeaways:

Retreaded aircraft tires are consistently reported with significant defects, including internal air gaps, bulges, and cracking, often appearing with minimal to zero operational hours.
Aircraft are experiencing frequent sidewall failures and blistering, notably a fleet-wide issue on Learjet 45s, leading to numerous premature replacements.
Internal tire defects such as rough surfaces or loose balancing strips are causing damage to inner tubes and compromising tire integrity, resulting in air pressure loss or operational anomalies.

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Cessna 172L Skyhawk

Defective Retread

New retread tire installed on aircraft. Three hours and four landings later, post-flight inspection revealed a bulge on inboard sidewall. Examination revealed an air gap of 0.375 to 0.5 inch depth between outer and inner surfaces. Gap area estimated 2-3 square inches. Groove was sliced open; outer rubber thickness at slice was less than 0.030 inch. Tire was shipped to me with 8130 release, but was not airworthy.