B737 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 216
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence
Flight Crew Landed in Emergency Condition; Flight Crew Returned To Departure Airport
Aircraft
Aircraft X carrying MEL 27-4-XX Leading Edge Slat Indications Forward Panel And number 2 Slat; which had no bearing on the situation other than being an additive threat as we analyzed our problems. Normal takeoff and gear retraction. Shortly thereafter; Master Caution Hydraulics and Flight Control lights alerted us to loss of System A. ATC notified and informed that we would be returning to ZZZ. QRH followed through manual gear extension; and landing data analysis; which dictated we burn off 8000 pounds of fuel to preclude overweight landing and protect Approach climb limit of 112;000 pounds.While holding northeast of the field; significant thunderstorms were moving northwest over ZZZ leading to several aircraft diverts and an advisory for windshear reported by ATC. We elected to wait for the weather to clear before returning to ZZZ. Also reported to us by ATC were significant pieces of rubber found on the runway shortly after our takeoff. This information was helpful to us in determining the probable cause of our hydraulic failure and help with our landing considerations and providing our Passengers meaningful information on the nature of our situation. What could not be provided to us by either ATC or ZZZ Operations was the amount of the rubber debris as far as tread separation or one or possibly two tires? As a result we prepared for the worst condition which might be some loss of control on landing rollout. We initially chose Runway XXR; but as we were being vectored in for the approach ATC turned the airport around and we changed our approach to ILS YYL which was uneventful through rollout where we stopped on the runway. Emergency equipment met the aircraft and determined no further threats. Operations hooked us up to a super tug and towed us to the gate.Post flight revealed tread separation to the right main inboard tire which apparently severed hydraulic lines and damage to the inboard trailing edge flap. Crew coordination was enhanced by excellent use of all available resources. A Deadhead Pilot was able to use the viewfinders in the Cabin and confirm the gear down and locked but unable to assess the nature of the damage to the tires. Dispatch was monitoring the ZZZ Operations frequency and immediately available for all coordination including emergency analysis; weather considerations; possible diverts; and Maintenance recovery after landing. Cabin Crew did a fantastic job of preparing the passengers and cabin for our recovery.
[Report narrative contained no additional information.]
B737 flight crew reported a loss of the A Hydraulic System shortly after takeoff due to the failure of an inboard main tire. The crew elected to return to the airport.