Wheel fell off plane carrying 55 passengers from Edinburgh to Belfast on Hallowe’en flight: AAIB

The detachment occurred as an Aer Lingus Regional flight operated by Emerald Airlines took off on October 31, 2023 but only became apparent at Belfast City.

“Whilst taking off from Edinburgh Airport the right wheel from the nose leg gear detached from the aircraft. The detachment was not observed by the airfield operations department and the flight crew were unaware of the loss of the wheel.

"They continued the flight and landed at Belfast City Airport without any abnormal indications or adverse aircraft performance.

"The wheel was first noticed missing as the aircraft taxied onto stand at Belfast. A failure of the wheel axle caused by bearing overheat was identified as the cause of the wheel detachment.

"A number of potential contributing factors were identified, but the cause of the bearing overheat could not be positively determined,” an Air Accident Investigation Branch report published on Thursday confirmed.

The aircraft was carrying 55 passengers and four crew. Nobody was injured.

The AAIB concluded: “The right nose landing gear wheel detached from the aircraft on take-off due to a failure of the axle onto which the wheel was located.

"The axle failed due to a fracture caused by overheat of the bearings in the wheel. Whilst the root cause of the failure could not be positively determined, factors were identified that could have contributed to the bearing overheat resulting from non-conformances with approved maintenance procedures. The manufacturer highlighted the importance of adherence to aircraft and component maintenance manuals.”

Emerald Airlines has been contacted.