Atlas Air Boeing 747 diverted after hydraulic failure linked to taxiway tire damage

After departure, a hydraulic failure caused cabin pressure to drop below normal levels. The flight entered a holding pattern before performing an emergency landing at Narita about three and a half hours later. Upon landing, it stopped on the runway, which remained closed for seven hours until ground crews could tow away the aircraft.

The affected aircraft is an 18.4-year-old Boeing 747-400F registered as N404KZ. It was originally delivered to Nippon Cargo Airlines in 2007 before joining Atlas Air's fleet in 2017. Atlas Air currently operates 48 Boeing 747-400 freighters.

"One possible scenario is that a loss of pressure in the seventh tire led to increased load on the eighth tire, or that fragments from the seventh tire or wheel debris caused damage to the eighth tire. While it is possible that the seventh tire lost pressure before takeoff, the cause of the pressure loss could not be determined," noted investigators.

There were seven people onboard at the time: two pilots including a first officer and five passengers. No injuries or fatalities occurred as a result of this incident.

Aircraft tires are designed for high stress during operations such as takeoff and landing but can still experience failures under certain conditions. Regular maintenance checks help reduce incidents; however, tire bursts remain one potential risk factor for commercial aviation safety.

Aeropeep data suggests that although rare overall due to strict maintenance routines, tire bursts occur more often during takeoff than landing—about once every 10,000 takeoffs compared with once every 100,000 landings.