Edinburgh to Belfast plane landing gear ‘overheated and fell off’

An fractured axle caused a passenger plane’s landing gear to detach during take off from a Scottish airport, an investigation has found.

The right nose wheel separated from the front of the Aer Lingus flight between Edinburgh and Belfast City Airport on 31 October, 2023.

Airport and flight crew failed to notice the detachment until the plane was being taxied to the terminal in the Northern Irish capital.

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said it the fractured axle was likely caused by an overheated bearing, but could not determine exactly what caused it to overheat.

No one was injured in the incident and the flight landed without any issues.

The AAIB report noted that the flight crew received “no indications” the nose wheel had detached.

Investigators said it would “not have been easily detectable” by staff in Edinburgh as it “came to rest” away from the runway.

Both airports carried out runway inspections after staff in Belfast noted the wheel was missing.

It was later located near the runway in Edinburgh.

An examination of the ATR 72-212 A aircraft, built in 2017, found evidence of heat damage on the axle.

The AAIB said the axle had fractured due to overheating of the wheel bearing which caused “thermal shock”.

However, investigators said that the cause of the overheating “could not be positively determined”.

They said it may have been caused by “over-greasing” of inner and outer bearings or the lack of wheel balancing weights.

Aer Lingus has been contacted for comment.