B737NG captain reported being advised of a main landing gear tire issue by ground observers during t...

Narrative:

As we approached [the] runway for departure one aircraft notified tower that it appeared that our right inboard tire had something stuck to it. Another aircraft said it appeared that the tire had some tread separating from it. We had [another aircraft] assess the tire in the runway run-up area; and they too confirmed what appeared to be some type of tread separation. We arranged one last check with an airport operations vehicle and they had the same assessment as the other pilots about our tire. There was no indication of a dragging brake; deflated tire; or other abnormal indication. After consultation with my first officer; maintenance; and operations; it was determined that we would return to [the] gate to have the tire serviced by maintenance. We made a left turn and soon after we heard a pop; followed by a slight settling of the aircraft to the right. I stopped the aircraft and we notified ground control that we most likely blew a tire. Ground control had [ground personnel] come out to assess that damage and they confirmed that the right main tires were both deflated. We coordinated with maintenance to have the tires serviced at the present location. Operations initiated a recovery plan and sent buses and air stairs to our aircraft to deplane the passengers and take them to [the] gate were a spare aircraft was positioned to take our passengers to [destination].

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737NG Captain reported being advised of a main landing gear tire issue by ground observers during taxi to the runway.

Narrative: As we approached [the] runway for departure one aircraft notified Tower that it appeared that our right inboard tire had something stuck to it. Another aircraft said it appeared that the tire had some tread separating from it. We had [another aircraft] assess the tire in the runway run-up area; and they too confirmed what appeared to be some type of tread separation. We arranged one last check with an Airport Operations vehicle and they had the same assessment as the other pilots about our tire. There was no indication of a dragging brake; deflated tire; or other abnormal indication. After consultation with my First Officer; Maintenance; and Operations; it was determined that we would return to [the] gate to have the tire serviced by Maintenance. We made a left turn and soon after we heard a pop; followed by a slight settling of the aircraft to the right. I stopped the aircraft and we notified Ground Control that we most likely blew a tire. Ground Control had [ground personnel] come out to assess that damage and they confirmed that the right main tires were both deflated. We coordinated with Maintenance to have the tires serviced at the present location. Operations initiated a recovery plan and sent buses and air stairs to our aircraft to deplane the passengers and take them to [the] gate were a spare aircraft was positioned to take our passengers to [destination].

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.

Attributes
ACN	1590329
Time
Date	201811
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Taxi
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Main Gear Tire
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 250 Flight Crew Type 8315
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe

B737NG captain reported being advised of a main landing gear tire issue by ground observers during taxi to the runway.