WASHINGTON (April 8, 2010)— The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board has called for tire pressure monitoring equipment to be fitted to all commercial aircraft following its investigation into a 2008 incident which killed four and seriously injury two music industry personalities.
In the incident, which took place in September 2008 in South Carolina, the captain, the first officer, and two passengers were killed; while Travis Barker, the drummer of Blink 182, and Adam Goldstein, also known as DJ AM, were both seriously injured. Goldstein died last year, but not as a result of injuries sustained during the crash.
The NTSB said its investigation revealed that the aircraft was operated while the main landing gear tires were severely underinflated. The underinflation led to the failure of all four of the airplane's main landing gear tires during takeoff, NSTB said.
As a result, the NTSB recommended the Federal Aviation Administration require tire pressure monitoring systems for all transport category airplanes.
Recommendations were also made on tire pressure maintenance procedures and in relation to the design of thrust reversers on the Learjet, the plane involved in the 2008 incident.