ATLANTA — A federal investigation is underway after a deadly incident killed two workers in the wheel and brake shop at Delta TechOps.
Delta didn't provide an update on Wednesday, but on Tuesday, the company told 11Alive that the incident involved wheel components that were being disassembled for maintenance. An Atlanta Fire Rescue incident report said crews responded to a "tire explosion."
Former National Transportation Safety Board member and former airline mechanic John Goglia gave some insight into how this tragedy could have happened.
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Goglia said that typically when a tire explodes, it's not the tire itself but the rim. Oftentimes, the tires will come in with the pieces of the rim missing where they are cracked and broken off.
"The tire still maintains its integrity, but it’s been deflated. In this case, it appears we’ve got a bunch of shrapnel coming off this tire,” Goglia stated. “And if that’s the case, they’re traveling at a good rate of speed when the tire comes apart.”
The incident, which left two people dead and another injured, happened at Delta TechOps on Tuesday around 5 a.m. Goglia said he believes this could only happen one of two ways: Either proper procedures failed to be followed, or the tire had weakened from repeated landings and cracked and burst. Goglia said the latter is a "very rare event."
“So it’s more likely that the procedures were not followed, and a very catastrophic event occurred," Goglia said.
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According to its website, Delta TechOps facility handles maintenance, repair and overhaul for the airliner. A source close to the investigation told 11Alive the accident was a result of several factors with the wheel components malfunctioning.
“With at least 200 pounds of nitrogen in that tire, any failure to the wheel halves, it’s going to disintegrate rapidly, and it’s going to shatter,” Goglia said. “So that means small pieces traveling at a pretty good rate of speed, and that’s typically the cause of most of the injuries.”
Goglia called airline maintenance a "risky business."
“The people that write workers compensation once told me it’s among the riskiest jobs that they insure,” Goglia said. “There’s a lot of injuries with people, not like this, but with people falling from high places, hands getting crushed. Fatalities occur but not in a great number.”
Delta said it is working with authorities and conducting a full investigation to determine what happened.
“It’s a real tragedy,” Goglia said.