Narrative:

Pre-flight; engine start and taxi out were all normal. We were cleared for take-off from runway xxr. The take-off roll was normal until approximately 5 to 7 KTS prior to V1 when a low grade vibration was felt in the cockpit. During this time a slight lateral skid to the right was noticed. At V1 the copilot rotated and as soon as the aircraft became airborne the vibration ended. Gear and flap retraction were all normal and the after take off check was completed. Shortly after takeoff I noticed a status message (air/ground sensor disagree) on the lower icas. The relief first officer informed me that he noticed it first displayed at approximately 600 ft. Departure control was in the process of giving us a hand off to the next controller when she paused in mid-sentence and advised us that the aircraft that lined up behind us awaiting takeoff clearance noticed what appeared to be something falling off our aircraft as we rotated. When asked our intentions I told her we wanted to stay in the terminal area for now and asked her to call the tower to find out if they were doing a runway inspection and if so would she report their findings to us. I called all the flight attendants and asked if they had felt or heard any thing unusual on takeoff. They all reported the takeoff as normal; although several flight attendants reported a vibration right before liftoff. I asked the relief first officer to contact dispatch and maintenance. After a discussion with both the dispatcher and maintenance we concluded that we might have blown a tire on takeoff and that with the air/ground sensor malfunction the best course of action was not to continue a transoceanic flight. Shortly after this we were informed by ATC that during the runway inspection they found some tire debris and a hole in the runway. We advised ATC that we would need to dump fuel and return to the departure airport. I informed the flight attendants and the passengers that we would be returning to the airport. At this time I called for a cabin advisory for the flight attendants. We were cleared to descend to 10;000 ft and given vectors to a holding pattern to what ATC advised as the fuel dumping area. We dumped approximately 32;000 pounds of fuel from the center tank and then per a recommendation from maintenance performed a controllability check. After all checklists were completed; we were still approximately 8;000 pounds over our maximum landing weight. We continued holding while we burned off fuel and during this time I turned off the seat belt sign allowing the passengers to get up if they needed. During the next approximately 20 minutes I spoke with dispatch; maintenance and the chief pilot to inform them of our status. During this conversation it was decided that the best course of action would be to declare an emergency with ATC and maintain the cabin advisory with the flight attendants. We then declared an emergency with ATC and returned for a straight in landing. I flew the approach and landing. Once cleared for the visual approach; I noticed the FMC weight indicating 700 pounds below the maximum landing weight. The touch down was normal and in the landing zone with no auto brakes engaged. I used manual speed brakes and normal reverse thrust and upon touchdown noticed what I would describe as a moderate vibration from touch down until the aircraft slowed to 80 KTS. We made a slow speed roll out to the end of the runway where we made a right hand turn off; cleared the runway and set the parking brake. The emergency vehicles surrounded the aircraft and over the ATC tower frequency we heard the emergency personnel inform the tower that there was no fire and it appeared that we had blown a tire on the right main truck. I shut down the right engine and company maintenance approached the aircraft for an inspection. Once they established communications on the interphone we were informed that we had a blown tire on the right main truck and a second damaged tire on the same truck. Maintenancedecided to change both tires at the current location so we shut down the left engine. Approximately 45 minutes later mobile lounges approached the aircraft and removed all the passengers and flight attendants. The pilots were asked by operations if we would stay on the aircraft and taxi it to the terminal when the maintenance crew was completed. We agreed. After the two tires were changed we taxied the aircraft to the gate.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B767-300 crew reported a slight vibration during takeoff and an air/ground sensor disagree EICAS status message after takeoff. ATC informed them of tire material falling from the aircraft. The crew declared an emergency and returned to land with a blown tire.

Narrative: Pre-Flight; engine start and taxi out were all normal. We were cleared for take-off from Runway XXR. The take-off roll was normal until approximately 5 to 7 KTS prior to V1 when a low grade vibration was felt in the cockpit. During this time a slight lateral skid to the right was noticed. At V1 the copilot rotated and as soon as the aircraft became airborne the vibration ended. Gear and flap retraction were all normal and the after take off check was completed. Shortly after takeoff I noticed a status message (air/ground sensor disagree) on the lower ICAS. The Relief First Officer informed me that he noticed it first displayed at approximately 600 FT. Departure Control was in the process of giving us a hand off to the next Controller when she paused in mid-sentence and advised us that the aircraft that lined up behind us awaiting takeoff clearance noticed what appeared to be something falling off our aircraft as we rotated. When asked our intentions I told her we wanted to stay in the terminal area for now and asked her to call the Tower to find out if they were doing a runway inspection and if so would she report their findings to us. I called all the flight attendants and asked if they had felt or heard any thing unusual on takeoff. They all reported the takeoff as normal; although several flight attendants reported a vibration right before liftoff. I asked the Relief First Officer to contact Dispatch and Maintenance. After a discussion with both the Dispatcher and Maintenance we concluded that we might have blown a tire on takeoff and that with the air/ground sensor malfunction the best course of action was not to continue a transoceanic flight. Shortly after this we were informed by ATC that during the runway inspection they found some tire debris and a hole in the runway. We advised ATC that we would need to dump fuel and return to the departure airport. I informed the flight attendants and the passengers that we would be returning to the airport. At this time I called for a cabin advisory for the flight attendants. We were cleared to descend to 10;000 FT and given vectors to a holding pattern to what ATC advised as the fuel dumping area. We dumped approximately 32;000 LBS of fuel from the center tank and then per a recommendation from Maintenance performed a controllability check. After all checklists were completed; we were still approximately 8;000 LBS over our maximum landing weight. We continued holding while we burned off fuel and during this time I turned off the seat belt sign allowing the passengers to get up if they needed. During the next approximately 20 minutes I spoke with Dispatch; Maintenance and the Chief Pilot to inform them of our status. During this conversation it was decided that the best course of action would be to declare an emergency with ATC and maintain the cabin advisory with the flight attendants. We then declared an emergency with ATC and returned for a straight in landing. I flew the approach and landing. Once cleared for the visual approach; I noticed the FMC weight indicating 700 LBS below the maximum landing weight. The touch down was normal and in the landing zone with no auto brakes engaged. I used manual speed brakes and normal reverse thrust and upon touchdown noticed what I would describe as a moderate vibration from touch down until the aircraft slowed to 80 KTS. We made a slow speed roll out to the end of the runway where we made a right hand turn off; cleared the runway and set the parking brake. The emergency vehicles surrounded the aircraft and over the ATC Tower frequency we heard the emergency personnel inform the Tower that there was no fire and it appeared that we had blown a tire on the right main truck. I shut down the right engine and Company Maintenance approached the aircraft for an inspection. Once they established communications on the interphone we were informed that we had a blown tire on the right main truck and a second damaged tire on the same truck. Maintenancedecided to change both tires at the current location so we shut down the left engine. Approximately 45 minutes later mobile lounges approached the aircraft and removed all the passengers and flight attendants. The pilots were asked by operations if we would stay on the aircraft and taxi it to the terminal when the Maintenance Crew was completed. We agreed. After the two tires were changed we taxied the aircraft to the gate.

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.