What happened
The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.
After departure, the flight crew were notified by ATC that bqn ground personnel witnessed a nose landing wheel assembly depart the aircraft shortly after takeoff. The crew performed a fly-by of the tower who confirmed a wheel assembly appeared to be missing. The crew of privacy data omitted declared an emergency and returned to bqn.
No additional damage occurred to the aircraft upon landing. The left nose wheel was missing from the nose landing gear and was recovered by ground personnel. The nose wheel attaching hardware (axle nut, locking bolt / nut) could not be located.
A visual inspection of the nose landing gear and wheel assemblies revealed no apparent damage to the nose landing gear axle or axle threads, and no evidence of overheating. The left nose wheel outboard bearing was missing all of the rollers and the cage was deformed / broken. The wheel bearing grease remaining in the outboard bearing and on the wheel had a discolored appearance; similar in color to hershey’s chocolate syrup. Mobil shc 100 grease is normally bright red in appearance. The left nose wheel inboard bearing and its grease appeared normal for an in-service bearing. The right nose wheel and its bearings appeared normal for an in-service nose wheel assembly.
As the FAA filed it
AFTER DEPARTURE, THE FLIGHT CREW WERE NOTIFIED BY ATC THAT BQN GROUND PERSONNEL WITNESSED A NOSE LANDING WHEEL ASSEMBLY DEPART THE AIRCRAFT SHORTLY AFTER TAKEOFF. THE CREW PERFORMED A FLY-BY OF THE TOWER WHO CONFIRMED A WHEEL ASSEMBLY APPEARED TO BE MISSING. THE CREW OF ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^ DECLARED AN EMERGENCY AND RETURNED TO BQN.
NO ADDITIONAL DAMAGE OCCURRED TO THE AIRCRAFT UPON LANDING. THE LEFT NOSE WHEEL WAS MISSING FROM THE NOSE LANDING GEAR AND WAS RECOVERED BY GROUND PERSONNEL. THE NOSE WHEEL ATTACHING HARDWARE (AXLE NUT, LOCKING BOLT / NUT) COULD NOT BE LOCATED.
A VISUAL INSPECTION OF THE NOSE LANDING GEAR AND WHEEL ASSEMBLIES REVEALED NO APPARENT DAMAGE TO THE NOSE LANDING GEAR AXLE OR AXLE THREADS, AND NO EVIDENCE OF OVERHEATING. THE LEFT NOSE WHEEL OUTBOARD BEARING WAS MISSING ALL OF THE ROLLERS AND THE CAGE WAS DEFORMED / BROKEN. THE WHEEL BEARING GREASE REMAINING IN THE OUTBOARD BEARING AND ON THE WHEEL HAD A DISCOLORED APPEARANCE; SIMILAR IN COLOR TO HERSHEY’S CHOCOLATE SYRUP. MOBIL SHC 100 GREASE IS NORMALLY BRIGHT RED IN APPEARANCE. THE LEFT NOSE WHEEL INBOARD BEARING AND ITS GREASE APPEARED NORMAL FOR AN IN-SERVICE BEARING. THE RIGHT NOSE WHEEL AND ITS BEARINGS APPEARED NORMAL FOR AN IN-SERVICE NOSE WHEEL ASSEMBLY.
Other reports on N915FX · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.