US Officer Killed by Tire Explosion in Scotland

[imcarthur]

Source: BBC News

"A US air force officer who was on holiday in Scotland has died after a car tyre she was holding exploded. Capt Jenna Wilcox, 27, was on a break with her husband when the accident happened in Dalkeith, Midlothian, on Saturday. She died at the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh on Thursday, five days after she sustained the injuries.

Capt Wilcox was holding the car tyre inside the vehicle, because it would not fit in the boot, when it exploded. It is thought the couple had changed the tyre on the BMW Z3, after noticing a bulge in it, but that Capt Wilcox was holding it because the boot was full of luggage. It is not known what caused the tyre to blow up . . ."

Strange & sad.

Ian

[URY914]

odd

[Laneco]

Tire or sidewall ply seperation (usually sidewall). Do NOT mess with it. Bulge in the tire, especially a bulge that seems to be growing is very dangerous.

I've never seen a car tire explode but that's probably just a matter of being in the right place at the unfortunate time. I've been in the vicinity when truck tires have exploded and it's quite enough to make you soil yourself even if you're 50 or 60 feet away...

angela

[speeder]

That's awful. Talk about being unlucky.

I don't think most of us think much about how much luck is involved in just staying alive on this earth for decades. Or more accurately, how much lack of bad luck is involved.

[89911]

Whats the psi of a tire? 30-40lbs? There has got to be more.

[James Brown]

No, a tire with 30-40 psi will kill you if it fails, check out the inflation cages used to service tires that MOST tire shops should use. There built with very heavy steel tubes and the operator stands back 10' from the cage. Most shops don't use them because there a time wasters, until a tire fails. I think it's a OSHA requirement.

Originally Posted by James Brown

No, a tire with 30-40 psi will kill you if it fails, check out the inflation cages used to service tires that MOST tire shops should use. There built with very heavy steel tubes and the operator stands back 10' from the cage. Most shops don't use them because there a time wasters, until a tire fails. I think it's a OSHA requirement.

Boeing does tire burst tests as part of their airplane certifications--they test the effects on vital systems if a tire on retracted landing gear explodes. Unbelievable carnage when one blows up.

[74-911]

Originally Posted by James Brown

No, a tire with 30-40 psi will kill you if it fails, check out the inflation cages used to service tires that MOST tire shops should use. There built with very heavy steel tubes and the operator stands back 10' from the cage. Most shops don't use them because there a time wasters, until a tire fails. I think it's a OSHA requirement.

We don't need no stinking inflation cages...
Back in the 60's I worked at a "filling station" during summer breaks. We fixed about any kind of flat tire you can imagine as this was cotton farming country. The tires that gave you a real pucker factor were split rim truck tires. When we started airing them up we used an air hose with a long metal extension to reach the metal fill valve on the tire and then laid down beside the tire so if the metal ring blew off it wouldn't take your hand, arm or head with it... no OSHA in those days. Those suckers are seriously dangerous....

[fastfredracing]

I worked nights at a sears auto center when I was about 19. I saw a tire explode that was not bolted down to the tire machine. The tire and rim shot straight up, and hit the ceiling. Roughly 20 ft high ceilings. The tire seriously bent one of the steel roof support beams. The kid who was mounting the tire was holding it with both hands, and it just went straight up, and completely cleared him That was his lucky day. I am sure it would have killed him. We were all a little safer in the shop after that episode.

[pwd72s]

Man, talk about the fickle finger of fate...a sad story.

[drew1]

74-911,

Yep, changing those split rims is dangerous, with the air out. We used to wrap a chain around & run a bolt though before going at it with a mallet. Had one jump & bounce off walls.

I wish those folks in Scotland had just let the air out of the tire. It would have caused danger with a regular car rim.

[Joe Bob]

Yeah....gud idear to deflate cracked or bubbled tires when in clsoe proximity thereof....

[GH85Carrera]

I saw a truck tire explode once. When I see any tire inflated for the first time I get far away.

[89911]

You guys are talking about truck tires and steel rims. From what I can tell, this is an aluminum alloy rim off a BMW. These just don't explode, especially just sitting stationary.

[unclebilly]

Nope, Z3's is perdy unrefined. They gots the split rims to.

if you read the actual article, I think they was cooking a can of beans on the manifold at the same time and fergot too put a hol in the can. The bean can exploding set off the tire.

I also wonder if the tire had fix-a-flat in it and maybe the were smoking in the car...