Safair B738 at Johannesburg on Apr 21st 2024, dropped wheel on departure

Last Update: October 21, 2025 / 14:57:40 GMT/Zulu time

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Incident Facts

Date of incident
Apr 21, 2024

Classification
Incident

Airline
Safair

Flight number
FA-212

Departure
Johannesburg, South Africa

Destination
Cape Town, South Africa

Aircraft Registration
ZS-FGE

Aircraft Type
Boeing 737-800

ICAO Type Designator
B738

A Safair Boeing 737-800, registration ZS-FGE performing flight FA-212 from Johannesburg to Cape Town (South Africa) with 178 passengers and 6 crew, was departing from Johannesburg's runway 21R when the outboard left main wheel separated from the airframe. The crew stopped the climb at about FL220, descended to FL150 and entered holds to burn off fuel. The aircraft performed a low approach to runway 21R about 90 minutes after departure, entered another hold and landed safely on runway 21R about 40 minutes after the low approach and about 2:15 hours after departure.

The lost wheel was recovered within the airport perimeter.

On May 15th 2024 South Africa's Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) released their preliminary report summarizing the sequence of events:

According to the preliminary radar and voice communication data, air traffic control (ATC) cleared the aircraft for take-off from Runway 21R, the aircraft was airborne at 09:48:51Z with the rotation speed at 161 kt. As the aircraft took off, a cabin crew member who was seated at the back of the aircraft observed, through a porthole window, the wheel that had separated from the aircraft. After the seatbelt signs were switched off, the cabin crew member alerted the flight deck crew. The cabin crew member and the senior cabin crew member were summoned to the flight deck where the PIC informed them that one of the left main wheels had dislodged during take-off. The crew was informed by air traffic control (ATC) that the wheel had come off after the crew from flight FA396 had alerted ATC. The PIC informed the senior cabin crew member that they would go into the hold to burn off fuel before they could return to FAOR to land. The PIC also informed the passengers about the occurrence, and that the cabin crew will prepare the cabin for an emergency landing. The passengers were kept updated throughout the flight about the measures being taken. The cabin crew remained seated for most of the flight whilst in the holding pattern. Later, the ATC informed the flight crew that pieces of the brake assembly were found next to the runway. As a result, the crew declared a PAN PAN PAN. There was no Non-Normal Quick Reference Handbook Checklist for the nature of this emergency. Therefore, the crew consulted the Flight Crew Training Manual (FCTM) for guidance under the “Tire Failure During or After Take-off” and “Landing on a Flat Tire” as well as “Partial or all Gear Up Landing”, which they concurred were the most appropriate actions considering the similarities between the situation they were in, and the guidance prescribed in the FCTM.

After being in the hold for approximately 90 minutes, the crew enquired from ATC if they could perform a low fly pass at their maintenance facility at FAOR with the landing gear extended to enable the technicians to assess the left main landing gear and advise accordingly. The request was granted, and the aircraft was cleared to 6 500ft, which was approximately 1 000ft above ground level (AGL).

After the low-level fly pass, the aircraft climbed to 10 000ft and went into the hold to the west of Swartkops Air Force Base (FASK) for approximately 35 minutes. The flight crew decided that they would perform a normal landing after confirming that the left inner mainwheel was still attached to the aircraft. The flight crew had also planned to land with a weight of 62 000kg and with the wing flaps at 40° at a landing speed of 133kt. Radar control vectored the aircraft for landing Runway 21R. At a height of approximately 500ft above ground level (AGL), the PIC commanded for “brace” position, which the cabin crew communicated to the passengers. The cabin crew had rehearsed the brace position with the passengers whilst the aircraft was still in the holding pattern.

The aircraft was then cleared to land on Runway 21R; it touched down (weight on wheels) at 12:05:58Z at a speed of 135kt with a g-loading of 1.062g. Available video footage showed that the aircraft landed normally, but approximately 30m before the aircraft came to a stop on the runway, the left inner mainwheel tyre burst. Data obtained from the Quick Access Recorder (QAR) indicated that the pilot flying (PF) had applied brakes during the latter part of the landing roll with the initial brake pressures captured at 671 pounds per square inch (psi) on the left side, and 729 psi on the right side. The maximum brake pressure recorded during this period was 1 835 psi on the left side and 820 psi on the right side. The pilot continued to apply brakes until the aircraft came to a stop on the runway in a left-wing low attitude.

After the aircraft had stopped, the PIC instructed all crew and passengers to remain seated. Upon the arrival of the Aerodrome Rescue and Firefighting (ARFF) personnel, the crew was requested to shut down the engines as smoke was observed from the left main gear. The PIC broadcasted to all occupants in the aircraft to continue to be seated to ensure positive control of the cabin. No person was injured during the landing sequence. After the ARFF personnel had declared the aircraft safe, the PIC informed the passengers that they would be deplaning the aircraft normally on the runway via the front left exit door, and that they would be transported by bus to the terminal building. The crew members were released from further duties, and they were debriefed by the operator representatives. The mainwheel tyre that separated from the axle was recovered within the aerodrome parameters.

The left main landing gear on the left outer brake unit was damaged. Minor damage was observed on the left inboard flap and the inboard ground spoiler which was caused by debris from the burst tyre.

On Oct 21st 2025 South Africa's AAID released their final report concluding the probable cause of the serious incident was:

It is likely that the cause of the wheel hub failure was due to a fatigue crack that initiated at the bearing cup seat transition of the inboard wheel hub half bearing bore.