Narrative:

On landing; the tower notified the flight crew of large amounts of smoke coming from the left body gear. We exited the runway at high speed exit A4; turned onto taxiway a; stopped the aircraft; and set the parking brake. After coming to a stop; we verified with the tower that there was no smoke coming from the undercarriage. The tower notified us again that they were going to conduct a visual inspection of the aircraft. We started the APU and shut down all engines. Upon inspection by the airfield rescue and fire fighters (arff) they confirmed that there was indeed a tire failure on the left aft outboard tire of the left body gear. Dispatch and local operations were notified; and the passengers and crew were all briefed. In essence; the aircraft was considered disabled. The active runway 34L was closed for about 20 minutes to complete an inspection and remove any FOD. The landing weight was 540;000 pounds; flaps 25; vref was 148 KTS; target was 153 KTS; winds were less than 5 KTS; and the weather was clear and very good visibility. The touchdown was smooth and the autobrakes activated with level 3 after the nose touched down. The brake temperatures were never higher than level two. The arff could not speak any english. All discussions about the condition of the aircraft were through a tower controller. A maintenance technician arrived at the aircraft and discussed the problems with the flight crew directly. This improved the communications with the problems at hand. After 40 minutes; the company tug arrived and towed the aircraft to the gate. There was no visible damage to the aircraft; no damage to any of the hydraulic lines. Upon personal inspection by the flight crew; the tire appeared have been ripped at one section of the tire. [It] looks as though there was no rotation of the tire at touchdown.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B747-400 left aft outboard tire on the left truck failed on landing and was seen by ATC; but not felt by the crew as all systems appeared normal.

Narrative: On landing; the Tower notified the flight crew of large amounts of smoke coming from the left body gear. We exited the runway at high speed exit A4; turned onto Taxiway A; stopped the aircraft; and set the parking brake. After coming to a stop; we verified with the Tower that there was no smoke coming from the undercarriage. The Tower notified us again that they were going to conduct a visual inspection of the aircraft. We started the APU and shut down all engines. Upon inspection by the Airfield Rescue and Fire Fighters (ARFF) they confirmed that there was indeed a tire failure on the left aft outboard tire of the left body gear. Dispatch and Local Operations were notified; and the passengers and crew were all briefed. In essence; the aircraft was considered disabled. The active Runway 34L was closed for about 20 minutes to complete an inspection and remove any FOD. The landing weight was 540;000 LBS; flaps 25; Vref was 148 KTS; target was 153 KTS; winds were less than 5 KTS; and the weather was clear and very good visibility. The touchdown was smooth and the autobrakes activated with level 3 after the nose touched down. The brake temperatures were never higher than level two. The ARFF could not speak any English. All discussions about the condition of the aircraft were through a Tower Controller. A Maintenance Technician arrived at the aircraft and discussed the problems with the flight crew directly. This improved the communications with the problems at hand. After 40 minutes; the Company tug arrived and towed the aircraft to the gate. There was no visible damage to the aircraft; no damage to any of the hydraulic lines. Upon personal inspection by the flight crew; the tire appeared have been ripped at one section of the tire. [It] looks as though there was no rotation of the tire at touchdown.

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.