The onslaught of issues with Boeing planes continued on March 7 after a tire fell off of a United Airlines plane soon after taking off from San Francisco International Airport at about 11:30 AM. The flight, United Flight 35, was bound for Osaka, Japan, but was diverted for an emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport. The tire landed in an airline employee parking lot in San Francisco. None of the 249 people onboard were injured, nor was anyone injured in the path of the fallen tire, though vehicles were heavily damaged.
Photo: Santi Rodriguez/Shutterstock
Watch: Tire Falls Off Boeing Plane Shortly After Departing From San Francisco International Airport
Video of the incident shows the moment it all happened.
@cnn A United Airlines flight lost a tire while taking off from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) Thursday but has safely landed at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) after it was diverted, the airline and airports tell CNN. United Airlines identified the plane model Boeing 777-200, and said the plane has six tires on each of its two main landing gear struts, and it was designed to land safely with missing or damaged tires. The Federal Aviation Administration said they will investigate the incident. #CNN #news #UnitedAirlines #Boeing ♬ original sound – CNN
Unlike the previous Boeing plane issues, like when a door plug blew off of the plane in-flight in January, this didn’t happen to the troubled Boeing Max models. The Boeing 777-200 lost one of its six tires almost immediately after takeoff. According to NBC, the plane is “designed to land with missing or damaged tires,” and the pilots safely touched down at LAX where the plane was towed to the gate. Incredibly, the only impact to other flights was a short delay to clear the debris, and UF 35 passengers took a different plane from LAX to Osaka.
People will need to wait for further investigation from the Federal Aviation Administration to determine whether the issue was a structural one having to do with Boeing planes, or a maintenance upkeep issue. United received the plane 22 years ago.
Thankfully, no one was near where the tire fell in the employee parking lot. Cars, however, were not so lucky.
@abc7newsbayarea Several cars in the San Francisco International Airport's employee parking lot were crushed by a tire that fell off a @United Airlines Boeing 777 during takeoff. Aside from shattering windows and causing major damage, debris from the incident crushed a nearby fence in the @Hertz lot. #car #cars #damage #sfo #unitedairlines #sanfrancisco #sf #tire #vehicle #vehicles #airport #plane #airplane #parkinglot #lot #boeing #boeing777 #hertz #news #fyp #foryoupage #abc7news ♬ original sound – ABC7 News
This isn’t the first time tires have fallen off a plane’s landing gear. It’s not even the first time this year. In January, a Boeing 757 lost its nose wheel in Atlanta while on the runway.
Despite the headlines, 2023 was actually the safest year for air travel. Still, the recent incidences make it hard not to question the quality of new planes coming out of the factory and the level of maintenance that airlines are doing to ensure passenger safety. 