B737-700
Flight Crew Multiengine; Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 371; Flight Crew Type 3300
Troubleshooting
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical
Air Traffic Control Provided Assistance; Flight Crew Requested ATC Assistance / Clarification; Flight Crew Returned To Departure Airport; Flight Crew Diverted; Flight Crew Landed in Emergency Condition
Aircraft
During the takeoff roll from [Runway] XXR in ZZZ; the aircraft glareshield began shaking as if there was nosewheel shimmy and the Captain (Pilot Monitoring) held the glareshield to stop the vibration. Almost simultaneously at the rotate callout; there was a load bang heard just beneath the flight deck. First Officer (Pilot Flying) suspected a nosewheel tire blowout and elected to leave the landing gear down. Pilot Monitoring asked Tower if there was debris on the runway and they did confirm there was tire debris on the runway. We received vectors to the west and were assigned to hold at BLOND to burn fuel and to discuss a plan of action.We took off with 36;400 pounds of fuel; so we had over 20;000 pounds of fuel to burn to be under maximum landing weight. With the landing gear down; flaps 5 at 6;000 feet and 230 knots; it would have taken over 2 and a half hours of holding to burn the fuel. While holding; we discussed our plan with Dispatch to return to ZZZ. We elected to conduct a low approach at ZZZ to see if the Tower could verify which tire had failed; however; they were unable to see which tire had failed. We then returned to holding at BLOND to finalize our plan and to burn more fuel. In agreement with the Dispatcher and the [Chief Pilot]; we elected to accept an overweight landing on [Runway] 1L at ZZZ.  The plan was to make a full stop on the runway and have Crash Rescue assess the status of the aircraft and to have the aircraft towed from the runway to prevent any further damage to the nose gear or engines. The Captain (Pilot Monitoring) elected that he would land the aircraft due to the potential for loss of directional control since he had the tiller. The landing weight of the aircraft was 136;300 pounds and was an uneventful landing to a full stop with no loss of directional control. Crash Fire Rescue initially stated that they did not see anything wrong with the tire; however; we asked them to take a close look; at which time they noticed the right main tire was missing the tread. At this time; we shut down the engines and were towed from the runway to the pad where the passengers were offloaded onto buses and returned to the terminal. Upon inspection; the failed tire caused damage to some support brackets and wiring on the aft side of the nosewheel and the undercarriage of the aircraft had several dents from the tread that came off.
On takeoff (at rotation speed); we heard a loud thump coming from just below the flight deck. We suspected that we may have damage to the nose wheel and elected not to retract the landing gear. No other irregularities (engine or hydraulic) occurred. [Advised ATC] and we went into a holding pattern to coordinate with Dispatch and to brief the flight attendants and inform the passengers. In discussions with Dispatch; we agreed that a landing back at ZZZ would be the best (and safest) option. Before landing back at ZZZ; as an extra precaution; at 1;600 feet we went by the ZZZ Tower so that they might be able to assess the extent of the damage. The Tower could not determine the extent or if there was damage. Before returning back to airport for landing; we went back into the holding pattern to brief the approach; brief Flight Attendants; and to coordinate with Dispatch and ZZZ Ops with regards to ground handling of the aircraft and deplaning of Passengers. We made a soft touchdown on Runway XXL and stopped on the runway. The landing was uneventful and did not feel any unusual characteristics during roll out. The aircraft was met by CFR and ZZZ Maintenance. Maintenance determined there was damage to the right nose tire. The aircraft was towed to remote parking and all passengers were safely deplaned. We landed at a weight of 136;300 pounds and an overweight logbook entry was made.
B737-700 flight crew reported a failure of their nosewheel on takeoff.