Boeing Jet Drops Debris on Takeoff, Crushing Car Below
Editor’s Note: Our readers responded strongly to this story when it originally ran; we’re reposting it here in case you missed it.
A United Airlines Boeing 777 lost a tire on takeoff earlier this month as it departed from San Francisco International Airport.
The plane, which was bound for Osaka, Japan, “lost a portion of landing gear tire during takeoff,” around 11:35 a.m. on March 7, airport representative Doug Yakel said, according to CNN.
The tire and associated debris landed in an employee parking lot, Yakel said.
No people were hurt, but several cars were damaged, he said.
The plane, which had 249 people aboard, was diverted to Los Angeles after the tire fell off.
United said a Boeing 777-200, the kind of plane involved in the incident, has six tires each on the two main parts of the landing gear.
“At the speed and velocity that it was coming down, it would have crushed somebody like a grape,” witness Gary Glass said, according to KGO-TV.
“I look up and it’s a tire spinning at a rapid speed. It bounced in the staff parking lot and it bounced onto a car, a small compact car and I thought that it was going to crush that car and stay there but it actually bounced again really high, and tires still spinning and then landed on a red Tesla and completely totaled and crushed the red Tesla,” he said.
BREAKING: United Airlines Boeing 777 loses tire while taking off from San Francisco, crushing cars on the ground pic.twitter.com/uXpHuFdzul
— BNO News (@BNONews) March 7, 2024
An aviation expert said losing a tire is rare.
“It’s remarkable that this happened at all,” aviation expert Mike McCarron said, according to KNTV-TV.
“I really think they’ll be focusing on United’s maintenance procedures and look at their paperwork and see where things happened. Now, if they point to a structural problem, then you’re going to get Boeing involved as far as the build of the aircraft,” he said.
The incident was followed by another involving United, according to the Daily Mail.
Yesterday, a United 777 lost a tire on takeoff. Today, another United jet had its landing gear collapse. Please sign this petition demanding airlines stop prioritizing dangerous DEI policies over our safety! Unskilled and unqualified airplane mechanics, engineers, and pilots… https://t.co/YNFevSNikg
— Buzz Patterson (@BuzzPatterson) March 8, 2024
A Boeing 737 MAX 8 operated by United Airlines suffered a gear collapse upon landing in Houston on March 8.
The aircraft, which arrived from Memphis, slid off the runway and onto the grass. No injuries were reported.
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