MD-80 Series (DC-9-80) Undifferentiated or Other Model
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Situational Awareness
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
General Flight Cancelled / Delayed; General Maintenance Action
Aircraft; Human Factors; Company Policy
Other than calling a mechanic; pilots are no longer given a means of determining tire pressure. It is impossible to identify tires that are not within required pressure limits unless a pressure gauge is used. Worse; it is impossible to determine gross under inflation conditions/flat tires because the good tire will support the weight of the low tire. This also exerts disproportionate stress on the good tire. Pilots have zero guidance as to when tire pressures and condition are checked by maintenance. The company has removed our only means of quickly ascertaining the pressure conditions of the tires but has not given any guidance as to when and how often they are checked.Through my own research I got an approximate idea of when the tire pressures are checked. However; the 4 mechanics; that I have asked; could not give me definitive information as to which checks require a tire pressure check.Today I had to make a decision to have our tire pressure checked at an out station because the last logbook entry made for a pressure check was made 3 days prior. As it turned out; all 6 tires were under-inflated by -10 PSI mains and -5 PSI nose. It took 40-45 minutes for a mechanic to arrive for an early AM departure. About 15-20 minutes to check all the tires and 35-40 minutes to service the tires.I feel it is very important to report this because I am pretty certain that most pilots are under the assumption that; since the company made the decision to remove the gauges; appropriate measures are being taken to make sure our tires are properly inflated according to tire manufacture recommendations.Unfortunately this is not the case; and my guess is that a good percentage of our pilots don't request a pressure check if they can't actually 'see' a low pressure condition. In my experience it is impossible to visually identify a flat unless both tires are low.A false sense of safety and security exists today in regards to the conditions of our tires. I don't feel that the consequences of tire failure; as a result of improper inflation; is understood or communicated well to our pilots and other operational personnel. There are hydroplaning; loss of control; and braking issues to consider. With tire failure you lose a good percentage of braking. Landing gear; brakes; hydraulic lines; underwing surfaces/fuel tanks; control surfaces and engines can be seriously damaged during the most critical phases of flight and can have catastrophic results. If an incident does not result in a total loss; there are the costly repairs; downtime; and inconvenienced customers to consider.Re-install the tire pressure gauges. We don't fly without knowing how much fuel we have. We shouldn't fly unless we know the full condition of our tires. In the end it is an inexpensive way to save time; money; and lives.
MD80 Captain believes that his company's MD80 fleet is not having tire pressures checked and serviced by maintenance on a frequent enough basis.