Narrative:

After pushback and while the ground crew was disconnecting the tug; we were informed that the right nose wheel tire appeared flat. We decided to taxi back into the gate and have maintenance look at the discrepancy. After deplaning we inspected the tire; finding no visible damage to the tire; however; it did appear to have deflated considerably. The first officer stated that during the walk around; everything appeared normal. After maintenance replaced the nose gear tires; they stated that there were marks on the right side tire consistent with the lift type tug 'claw' device that 'traps' the tires in place so the nose gear can be raised slightly onto a platform attached to the tug to facilitate pushback. Maintenance stated that this has been an issue in the past on at least one of our flights and several other air carrier's flights; where the ground personnel don't allow the aircraft to be pulled far enough forward onto the tug platform; or [don't] make sure the nose wheel is straight in-line with the tug before raising the 'claws'. This causes the claw to lift one or both nose tires into the air; (instead of sliding behind them; trapping them into place like they're supposed to); which can push the tire off of the rim causing loss of pressure. From speaking with maintenance; it is believed that this is what happened in this instance. Better training for ramp crews; awareness of the hazards involved with these types of tugs and the effect they can have on our equipment if everything isn't aligned correctly. Perhaps exploring a different tug type application; perhaps a normal tow-bar-tug in place of the lift-type-tug; would certainly act to eliminate these types of issues.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Pilot reports nose gear tires on their DHC-8-200 aircraft have been found damaged; deflated or with low tire pressures that Maintenance believes is caused by improper use of 'Strap and Cradle' type tow tugs used by ramp personnel.

Narrative: After pushback and while the ground crew was disconnecting the tug; we were informed that the right nose wheel tire appeared flat. We decided to taxi back into the gate and have Maintenance look at the discrepancy. After deplaning we inspected the tire; finding no visible damage to the tire; however; it did appear to have deflated considerably. The First Officer stated that during the walk around; everything appeared normal. After Maintenance replaced the nose gear tires; they stated that there were marks on the right side tire consistent with the lift type tug 'claw' device that 'traps' the tires in place so the nose gear can be raised slightly onto a platform attached to the tug to facilitate pushback. Maintenance stated that this has been an issue in the past on at least one of our flights and several other air carrier's flights; where the ground personnel don't allow the aircraft to be pulled far enough forward onto the tug platform; or [don't] make sure the nose wheel is straight in-line with the tug before raising the 'claws'. This causes the claw to lift one or both nose tires into the air; (instead of sliding behind them; trapping them into place like they're supposed to); which can push the tire off of the rim causing loss of pressure. From speaking with Maintenance; it is believed that this is what happened in this instance. Better training for ramp crews; awareness of the hazards involved with these types of tugs and the effect they can have on our equipment if everything isn't aligned correctly. Perhaps exploring a different tug type application; perhaps a normal tow-bar-tug in place of the lift-type-tug; would certainly act to eliminate these types of issues.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.