Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike P
There's one major flaw in that theory. The tire/landing gear wells aren't pressurized, and at 35,000' there's not enough ambient oxygen in the atmosphere to keep tires burning. Every so often, a clueless stowaway gets the stupid idea to crawl into a wheel well while a plane is on the ground. Once the plane takes off and the gear is retracted, they die from hypoxia, well before they die from hypothermia. Their bodies fall like a block of ice to the ground when the gear is lowered on the final approach.
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Reasonable point, although I'd suspect a tire that ignited on takeoff could burn at least until 10,000 feet. By that point it could have spread?
I've heard of tires igniting on landing but never on take off...who knows.
-spence