Tire falls off airplane taking off at San Francisco International Airport – Washington Examiner

A United Airlines flight was interrupted Thursday when a tire came off the airplane during takeoff.

The plane was headed to Osaka, Japan, from San Francisco International Airport, but upon losing one of its 12 tires, it changed course to land safely at Los Angeles International Airport. There, 249 passengers and crew members disembarked to wait for a new plane to get to their destination.

The tire fell into an employee parking lot and damaged several cars. No one was injured. San Francisco International Airport did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment. The Federal Aviation Administration has launched an investigation into the incident.

Damaged cars are seen in an on-airport employee parking lot after tire debris from a Boeing 777 landed on them at San Francisco International Airport on Thursday, March 7, 2024. A United Airlines jetliner bound for Japan made a safe landing in Los Angeles on Thursday after losing a tire while taking off from San Francisco. (AP Photo/Haven Daley)

This is the second incident this year in which a Boeing plane’s tire came apart. While Thursday’s involved a Boeing 777-200, last month, a Delta Air Lines Boeing 757 plane had its front tire roll off while taxiing at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The FAA is also investigating that instance.

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Earlier this year, the FAA ordered Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes to be temporarily grounded on the terms of an emergency airworthiness directive for the planes, which required “immediate inspections” on the aircraft before they were allowed in the air again. The directive instructed operators on what to look out for to ensure the safety of passengers.

The directive was born out of the incident of an Alaska Airlines flight that was forced to make an emergency landing when its door plug was blown out mid-flight.

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