United Airlines Plane Wheel Falls Off Immediately After Takeoff, Damaging Vehicles on the Ground

 United Airlines flight lost a tyre while taking off from San Francisco International Airport, damaging several cars in a parking lot before the plane safely landed at Los Angeles International Airport.

The plane “lost a portion of landing gear tire during takeoff,” around 11:35 a.m. Thursday as the flight departed for Osaka, Japan, the San Francisco airport’s spokesperson, Doug Yakel, told CNN. United Airlines confirmed the plane lost one tyre after takeoff.

The tyre debris landed in an employee parking lot at the airport, Yakel said. Several cars were damaged but there were no reports of injuries, he said.

United Flight 35, with 249 passengers and crew on board, was diverted to Los Angeles and landed shortly after 1:20 p.m., the airline told CNN. A new aircraft was being arranged for those impacted.

“Do you guys know where that tyre went?” an American Airlines pilot can be heard asking air traffic control after being informed of the incident as other flights were redirected, according to audio captured by LiveATC.net.

“No, so it’s probably going to be a few minutes for you guys,” the controller responded.

United identified the plane as a Boeing 777-200. It has six tyres on each of its two main landing gear struts and was designed to land safely with missing or damaged tyres, United said.

The San Francisco International Airport’s runway was briefly closed to clear debris but has since reopened, and there was no further impact on airport operations, Yakel said.