Commercial Fixed Wing
Flight Attendant Current
Other / Unknown
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Aircraft Aircraft Damaged; General Maintenance Action
Aircraft
We learned after getting to the hotel; one of the main tires had blown up at some stage of flight; assumed landing; which resulted in the tire exploding and damaging the fuselage of the aircraft with a gaping hole. It has not been determined by the flight deck at what stage it occurred. It is concerning to me that at no stage was this alerted to the working flight deck crew. It was significant damage to the airplane which caused the plane to be not airworthy. The only irregular part of our flight occurred shortly after takeoff; just prior to climbing above 10;000 feet; I heard what sounded like a shift in the landing gear. Could not pin point the exact sound; but it raised a concern to myself; and was mentioned to me by 2 other flight attendants sitting by door 2. We mentioned this to the [First Officer]; who said they heard it too; but thought it was a gear shifting or perhaps cargo unsecured but elected to continue and not giving much thought beyond that mention. Flight continued and landed normally. It was only later that night we leaned from the outbound crew what had happened on our flight on landing. Not sure if this event had any connection; but it was worth noting to let everyone know what we heard. We waited for our gate for over 20 minutes on the tarmac and concerns me regarding the severity of the damage and the hole in the fuselage.
Flight Attendant reported being informed later that one of the main gear tires exploded and damaged the fuselage. The reporter was upset for not being informed of the situation that was unfolding while on the aircraft.