Video: United Airlines flight loses tyre soon after take-off from San Francisco
A United Airlines flight to Japan landed at Los Angeles International Airport after losing a tyre mid-air post take-off from San Francisco. A video of the incident was viral.
United Airlines flight loses tyre mid-air (Credits: AP)
In Short
- United Airlines jet loses tyre during takeoff
- Plane lands safely in Los Angeles, later towed away
- No injuries reported, tyre damages cars in parking lot
A Japan-bound United Airlines jetliner landed in Los Angeles on Thursday after losing a tyre while taking off from San Francisco. According to the details, the plane, carrying 235 passengers and a crew of 14, lost one of its six tyres on its left-side main landing gear assembly.
A video of the plane losing one of its tyres seconds after take-off was being widely shared on social media.
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No one was injured in the incident, though the tyre landed in an employee parking lot at San Francisco International Airport, where it smashed into a car and shattered its back window before breaking through a fence and coming to a stop in a neighboring lot.
Soon after the incident, the Boeing 777 made an uneventful landing and stopped about two-thirds of the way down the runway.
It was later towed away.
In a statement, the airline said that the plane, built in 2002, was designed to land safely with missing or damaged tyres. The passengers will be moved to another plane for the rest of the trip, it said, the Associated Press reported.
The incident will further be investigated by the Federal Aviation Administration.