Narrative:

We arrived at the airplane; found maintenance working a hydraulic problem; so no logbook available to us. Went through normal preflight duties. First officer (first officer) and I discussed takeoff runway options. I noticed ATC was using both [runways] for departure. We requested both runways performance. Around 30 minutes prior to block out; maintenance performed a test of the hydraulic system they had been working on. He said it looked good and would bring us the logbook soon. About 5 minutes prior to scheduled block-out maintenance came onboard and discussed the status of the now green airplane.... We entered our takeoff data and we noticed the vr speed was different from the FMC generated speed. We double checked the printout and I repeated the vr speed that was listed as well as the other data. Start and after start duties were normal and standard. Taxi was uneventful and the first officer briefed the departure with standard briefings to include the flaps and runway for departure. We were instructed to taxi into position and hold. I lined up and set the brakes. As is my standard practice; I transferred control to the first officer and said the brakes were set. After a brief wait; we received a takeoff clearance. The first officer advanced the power for takeoff but didn't release the brakes and we received a config warning. He released the brakes and commenced the takeoff roll. Everything seemed normal for a heavyweight takeoff. I noticed the end of the runway approaching quickly as we passed V1. The rotation was slow and I considered helping with the rotation; but it seemed like he was correcting. Upon takeoff; received a tire pressure EICAS message. Elected not to raise the gear because of an unknown; possibly unsafe; gear situation. I checked the gear synoptic and noticed two tires on the left body gear were indicating no tire pressure. I was unsure of the condition of the gear and tires so I didn't want to retract the gear. A quick check of the fuel burn with the gear down prevented us from continuing as planned. After a brief discussion with dispatch we elected to return. I requested a 747 qualified jumpseater come up to the flight deck to assist with the checklist and fuel dumping. I took control of the airplane from the first officer and now I was the pilot flying and the first officer was the pilot monitoring. We communicated with dispatch [maintenance and ops]. Dumped fuel in coordination with ATC.... Ended fuel dumping and prepared for the approach and landing with 2 failed tires. Performed a low level flyby so the tower and company personnel could have a look at the gear. We were advised everything looked normal. The approach was normal. Upon touchdown; I held the left wing slightly high as long as I could. As we slowed; the tower advised us there was smoke and a lot of rubber on the runway but it didn't appear we had a fire. I stopped the plane on the runway and crash fire rescue (crash fire rescue equipment) and the chief pilot were waiting for us there. After a while; maintenance was able to communicate to us and advised that they needed to tow us forward and crew stairs would be brought so we could deplane.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B747 flight crew reported a tire pressure EICAS message after takeoff and returned to base for a precautionary landing.

Narrative: We arrived at the airplane; found maintenance working a hydraulic problem; so no logbook available to us. Went through normal preflight duties. First Officer (FO) and I discussed takeoff runway options. I noticed ATC was using both [runways] for departure. We requested both runways performance. Around 30 minutes prior to block out; maintenance performed a test of the hydraulic system they had been working on. He said it looked good and would bring us the logbook soon. About 5 minutes prior to scheduled block-out maintenance came onboard and discussed the status of the now green airplane.... We entered our takeoff data and we noticed the VR speed was different from the FMC generated speed. We double checked the printout and I repeated the VR speed that was listed as well as the other data. Start and after start duties were normal and standard. Taxi was uneventful and the FO briefed the departure with standard briefings to include the flaps and runway for departure. We were instructed to taxi into position and hold. I lined up and set the brakes. As is my standard practice; I transferred control to the FO and said the brakes were set. After a brief wait; we received a takeoff clearance. The FO advanced the power for takeoff but didn't release the brakes and we received a config warning. He released the brakes and commenced the takeoff roll. Everything seemed normal for a heavyweight takeoff. I noticed the end of the runway approaching quickly as we passed V1. The rotation was slow and I considered helping with the rotation; but it seemed like he was correcting. Upon takeoff; received a tire pressure EICAS message. Elected not to raise the gear because of an unknown; possibly unsafe; gear situation. I checked the gear synoptic and noticed two tires on the left body gear were indicating no tire pressure. I was unsure of the condition of the gear and tires so I didn't want to retract the gear. A quick check of the fuel burn with the gear down prevented us from continuing as planned. After a brief discussion with Dispatch we elected to return. I requested a 747 qualified jumpseater come up to the flight deck to assist with the checklist and fuel dumping. I took control of the airplane from the FO and now I was the pilot flying and the FO was the pilot monitoring. We communicated with Dispatch [Maintenance and Ops]. Dumped fuel in coordination with ATC.... Ended fuel dumping and prepared for the approach and landing with 2 failed tires. Performed a low level flyby so the Tower and Company personnel could have a look at the gear. We were advised everything looked normal. The approach was normal. Upon touchdown; I held the left wing slightly high as long as I could. As we slowed; the tower advised us there was smoke and a lot of rubber on the runway but it didn't appear we had a fire. I stopped the plane on the runway and crash fire rescue (CFR) and the Chief Pilot were waiting for us there. After a while; maintenance was able to communicate to us and advised that they needed to tow us forward and crew stairs would be brought so we could deplane.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.