Aviation experts have been scratching their heads after a British Airways flight touched down at London's Heathrow Airport with a square tyre.
An image of the bizarrely misshapen wheel was posted to The Aviation Herald, which reported that the flight was departing Hong Kong when crew received a "tyre pressure indication".
Crew decided to continue to London, and requested a tow tug be made available for landing in case the aircraft was not able to taxi on its own.
However, the aircraft landed safely at Heathrow, and made its way to the gate without assistance.
A British Airways spokesperson told the Daily Mail the flight landed normally last Friday with one of its 18 tyres deflated.
safety expert Kumar Mysore told the Daily Mail the phenomenon was "a bit mysterious".
The reason for the square shape was to do with the way the weight of the A380 is distributed onto the wheels, he said.
"The effect of the weight on the deflated tyre is the same as when you squeeze a rubber ring toy with different intensity, it can turn into a different shape.
"In an A380, for this particular situation, it happens to be squarish. In a 747, for instance, the load of the aircraft does not give rise to this particular shape."
A Civil Aviation Authority spokesman said: "It is a curious one. Not seen anything like it before."
(Culled from stuff.co.nz)
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