Date: 201312
Local time of day: 0601-1200
Location: ZZZ.Airport, US
Light: Daylight
Aircraft: B767-300 and 300 ER
Operator: Air Carrier
Operating under: Part 121
Flight plan: IFR
Mission: Passenger
Flight phase: Parked
Reporter organization: Air Carrier
Reporter function: Captain; Pilot Flying
Reporter qualification: Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Human factors: Other / Unknown
Second reporter function: First Officer
Anomaly: Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical; Ground Event / Encounter Other / Unknown
Detector: Person Gate Agent / CSR
When detected: Aircraft In Service At Gate
Result: General Flight Cancelled / Delayed; General Maintenance Action
Contributing factors: Aircraft; Equipment / Tooling; Human Factors
Primary problem: Equipment / Tooling

Narrative: I would like the Flight Department to recognize the following people for a 'Great Job Well Done': Ground Employee X; Mechanic Y and the First Officer. I was Captain; with all doors closed and cabin ready for an ON-time departure I called Ground Employee X for brake release; standby for push back. Ground Employee X noticed that number #7 tire was flat on the right Main [Landing] Gear. I asked my First Officer if he had checked the tires in which he replied 'Yes' and all were normal and properly inflated. I again asked Ground Employee X for more clarification on the tire condition. He was very adamant that the tire was flat and that it was almost on the rim. I told Ground Employee X we were calling for Maintenance and I will come down and take a look. To my astonishment I saw the tire was flat. As I approached for a closer look; Mechanic X approached with a tire gauge. He checked right Main Landing Gear Number-8 tire first; which showed approximately 210 PSI; then walked over to Number-7 tire to check pressure only to have the valve stem break off; the cause of the flat tire. I returned back to the cockpit to coordinate with the First Officer and flight attendants. Mechanic X entered the cockpit shortly thereafter. We both agreed that Ground Employee X saved the day and needs to be recognized for a 'Great Job Well Done' by Management. He alone saw the flat tire and pointed it out to us while in the push tug. The delay went from bad to worse. What normally takes less than an hour to change a tire took almost five hours to fix. This is due to the jack not fitting under the Main Gear Assembly and not having the proper adaptor to inflate the flat tire to get the jack to fit underneath; only to then have the jack fail; requiring another from the maintenance hangar. First Officer took the initiative working with Maintenance; running up and down the jet bridge several times; making calls to Operations and keeping me informed; helping out with strollers and assisting flight attendants and gate agents with passengers. His 'Team Effort' made my job a lot easier and was a tremendous help. It is employees like Ground Employee X; Mechanic X and the First Officer that make our Air Carrier a great place to work! Great Job Guys!


Second narrative: [We had a] flat tire at departure time. I was the First Officer on a B767-300 flight. I walked around the airplane approximately one hour before departure time and the tires looked fine at that time. I noticed one small item on the outside that I wanted Maintenance to look at (not involving the tires) so I gave them a call. Maintenance showed up approximately 20 minutes later and went outside to look at the spot I [had] called about and said it was fine. At Departure time one of the ground guys called on the intercom and said we had a flat (tire #7). Sure enough it was! They said when they started loading the bags it was fine; but now it was flat. Maintenance came out again and apparently when the [Mechanic] went to touch the valve stem of tire #7; the valve stem fell out and the remaining air escaped. Maintenance said it would take approximately two hours to fix but it was closer to four hours. At first the jack would not fit under [the landing gear truck] because the tire was so flat; then; they could not find a lower profile jack. The next idea was to secure the valve stem and re-inflate tire #7 enough so the jack would slide under; but the nitrogen bottles they brought out did not have the correct fitting to attach to the valve stem...another trip to the hangar. Once the tire #7 was inflated the jack was able to slide under but; after a few minutes they found out the jack was bad. Another trip to the hangar and a new jack showed up; this time it worked and tires #7 and #8 were changed out.In January I came back from a long furlough; during that time I flew for a couple of different airlines. Now that I'm back; I'm surprised at how seldom Maintenance is required to look over the planes. The Maintenance Departments at the Air Carriers I worked for during furlough usually were required to look over the airplane for each international flight and at least once a day for all other operations. For example: In December I was the First Officer on another flight. The Relief Pilot did the walk around and discovered one of the brake wear pins was below limits. We took a two hour delay for this. To me it seems like this maintenance problem should have been noticed earlier in the day. If Maintenance had walked around the aircraft when it came in earlier the delay would have been much shorter or none at all.


Synopsis: A B767-300 Captain and First Officer reported a tire on the right Main Landing Gear was found flat by an alert Ground Employee. Tire condition was not noticeable until after aircraft loading was completed.