That the Concorde, the world's fastest passenger aircraft, could be brought down by something as mundane as a blown tire was shocking to many people.  But aircraft tires are far from mundane.  In fact, tires have been a source of trouble for airplanes for years and the Concorde, because of its unique design, has had problems with its tires since it came into service.  In 1979, two tires blew out on a British Airways Concorde's left landing gear at Dulles Airport in Washington, DC.  Although no fire resulted, the plane sustained serious damage, including a major fuel leak.  After the incident, BA implemented some changes intended to prevent such occurrences; Air France reportedly did not make these changes.  Now, however, both airlines, have grounded their Concorde fleets until they are certain that the tires can be made safe.

Car and truck tires, too, are critical components of the vehicles, as the number of fatalities associated with the recalled tires suggests.  Firestone's problems notwithstanding, automobile and truck tires are becoming safer, longer-wearing, and more economical in terms of fuel consumption.  The application of advanced technology to tires has led to some significant advances in recent years.  A few examples can be found among the links below, including tires that can run at highway speeds without any air at all, automatic puncture sealing systems, and pressure equalization devices to keep tires on opposite sides of the car inflated to exactly the same pressure.