San Francisco –
A United Airlines jetliner bound for Japan lost a tire Thursday while taking off from San Francisco, but landed safely in Los Angeles.
Video shows the plane lost one of the six tires on the left main landing gear assembly seconds after takeoff. The tire landed in an employee parking lot at San Francisco International Airport, colliding with a car and shattering its rear window, before crashing through a fence and coming to rest in an adjacent parking lot.
There were no injuries, airport spokesman Doug Yeakel said in a statement.
Fire trucks were on standby at Los Angeles International Airport, but they were not needed as the Boeing 777 landed without incident and came to rest about two-thirds of the way down the runway. Airport spokeswoman Day Levin said the plane landed safely.
It was then towed away.
United Airlines said there were 235 passengers and 14 crew members on board the flight. The airline said the plane was built in 2002 and was designed to land safely even with missing or damaged tires. United Airlines said the passengers will be moved to another plane for the remainder of their journey.
Tire debris from a Boeing 777 lands at San Francisco International Airport, Thursday, March 7, 2024, and damaged cars are seen in an employee parking lot at the airport. (AP Photo/Haven Daily)
The Boeing 777 has two main landing gear with six tires on each. Video of Flight 35’s takeoff shows the plane losing one of the six tires on its left main landing gear assembly seconds after takeoff.
Aviation experts said losing a plane tire is rare and does not indicate a larger safety problem.
“In the airline industry, you never want to create a single point of failure if you can avoid it, and this is a perfect example of that,” said Alan Price, former chief pilot at Delta Air Lines.
“The remaining tires are able to bear the load well,” he added.
Price said loose tires are usually a maintenance issue, not a problem created by the manufacturer.
John Cox, a former pilot and professor of aviation safety at the University of Southern California, agreed. “It was United’s maintenance team that replaced the tires, so I don’t think there will be any impact on Boeing,” he said.
Spokesman Tony Molinaro said the Federal Aviation Administration would investigate.
Associated Press writer David Koenig contributed.
