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Delta tire Explodes while being disassembled for maintenance.

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FlyBigE

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 15, 2003
Posts
173
Type aircraft owned
I wish
Ratings
A320/321, BD500, B727, B737, E110, EMB170/190, SF34, AGI CFI, CFII
Body of Delta Air Lines worker who died in tire explosion was unrecognizable, son says

ATLANTA (AP) — The body of a worker who died Tuesday in a tire explosion at a Delta Air Lines maintenance facility near the Atlanta airport was unrecognizable, and the family relied on tattoos and a lanyard to identify him, his son told a news outlet.

Mirko Marweg, 58, was among two workers who died while wheel components were being disassembled for maintenance at a wheel and brake shop. A third worker was seriously injured.

Marweg’s son, Andre Coleman, told Atlanta’s 11Alive news station on Tuesday that he wanted to see his father because he didn’t believe he was dead. But a medical examiner told the family the body was unrecognizable.

A Mississippi State lanyard around his neck helped confirm his identity, Coleman said.

Marweg, who lived in Stone Mountain, Georgia, worked for Delta for more than 20 years and was planning to retire in a few months, according to 11Alive. Coleman said his father was a loving man who just Sunday had helped change the oil in Coleman’s motorcycle.

“That’s the kind of dad he was. He was always there,” Coleman said.

The Clayton County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the second victim as Luis Aldarondo, 37, of Newnan, Georgia. The worker who was seriously injured remained under medical care Wednesday, Delta spokesperson Samantha Moore Facteau said in an email.
 
Be careful when working on tires. The amount of energy stored is amazing. I read another article that said even at 100 psi the explosive force is in the neighbor hood of 50,000 lbs.

IIRC Airbus tires are in the neighbor hood of 170-220 psi. Not sure what type of aircraft tire they were disassembling. This the first I have heard of a disassembly accident. All the videos I have seen were inflation explosions and why you should use a tire cage for inflation.
 
There have been fatal accidents when wheels were disassembled without tire deflation on small aircraft wheel assemblies as well. Combining twenty-six pounds per square inch pressure and complacency can kill and maim.
 
Even when inflating my bush tires I wear safety glasses. Anytime I'm inflating any tire I look away or now with my Dewalt tire inflator for car and RV it's set and forget, walk away, it turns off when done. They are all dangerous, sad to hear this news and hoped that in today's day and age it would never happen like I've seen/heard with truck tires in the past.
 
Unless grossly overinflated or overheated [in light aircraft only in the case of being within burning airplane wreckage] tires rarely "explode". Overheated tires due to absorbing heat from brake energy in transport category aircraft is not uncommon, but their wheel assemblies are protected by a lead "fuse plug" in the wheel that melts and allows the tire to deflate before it explodes.

Tire "explosions" in the shop actually are not combustive explosions but rather a sudden release of stored energy when the disassembling of the split wheel or rim is attempted without releasing tire pressure first.
 
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