Narrative:

After a normal landing and rollout; I assumed control of the aircraft (first officer's landing) at about 60 KTS. I continued to slow the aircraft to taxi speed to exit the runway. Shortly after the transition of control from first offier to captain we experienced an unusual bump and jolt of the aircraft. I turned left slowly onto the reverse high speed to exit the runway. Our flight was instructed to cross the parallel runway. However; I was not comfortable with proceeding due to the unusual feel of the controls during the end of the rollout. I stopped the aircraft between the runways to analyze the situation. I had believed initially that I had just experienced a tire failure. Immediately from the aft cabin; I was notified by a deadheading company first officer that he saw a tire depart the aircraft with the jolt we just felt. We quickly notified tower that debris may be on the runway and a closer inspection of our aircraft is required. We notified ops and requested a mechanic come out with airport personnel to inspect the aircraft along with emergency equipment to determine further action. Our company mechanic arrived with the emergency personnel to inspect and perform a brake temp test. The brake temps revealed no high or dangerous temperatures. Our mechanic notified us that the wheel had broken off inboard of the spindle. At this time we jointly planned to remove the passengers from the aircraft. We coordinated with the cabin throughout the situation and kept the passengers informed. We continued to secure the aircraft for passenger removal. After passengers were removed; we finished our duties securing the aircraft and handed control over to our company mechanics who were preparing to tow the aircraft to the remote ramp area. Throughout the situation; outstanding communication between our crews and emergency personnel helped to bring this mechanical failure to a very safe and manageable conclusion.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B737-300 flight crew reported a bump and jolt on landing roll that was later determined to be a main gear axle failure just inboard of the spindle that allowed a main gear wheel to depart the aircraft.

Narrative: After a normal Landing and rollout; I assumed control of the aircraft (First Officer's landing) at about 60 KTS. I continued to slow the aircraft to taxi speed to exit the runway. Shortly after the transition of control from First Offier to Captain we experienced an unusual bump and jolt of the aircraft. I turned left slowly onto the reverse high speed to exit the runway. Our flight was instructed to cross the parallel runway. However; I was not comfortable with proceeding due to the unusual feel of the controls during the end of the rollout. I stopped the aircraft between the runways to analyze the situation. I had believed initially that I had just experienced a tire failure. Immediately from the aft cabin; I was notified by a deadheading Company First Officer that he saw a tire depart the aircraft with the jolt we just felt. We quickly notified Tower that debris may be on the runway and a closer inspection of our aircraft is required. We notified Ops and requested a mechanic come out with airport personnel to inspect the aircraft along with emergency equipment to determine further action. Our Company Mechanic arrived with the emergency personnel to inspect and perform a brake temp test. The brake temps revealed no high or dangerous temperatures. Our Mechanic notified us that the wheel had broken off inboard of the spindle. At this time we jointly planned to remove the passengers from the aircraft. We coordinated with the cabin throughout the situation and kept the passengers informed. We continued to secure the aircraft for passenger removal. After passengers were removed; we finished our duties securing the aircraft and handed control over to our Company Mechanics who were preparing to tow the aircraft to the remote ramp area. Throughout the situation; outstanding communication between our Crews and Emergency personnel helped to bring this mechanical failure to a very safe and manageable conclusion.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.