KUALA LUMPUR – A United Airlines jetliner headed for Japan was forced to make an emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport shortly after a tyre fell off the aircraft while departing from San Francisco.
According to Sky News, the incident yesterday prompted firefighters at the Los Angeles airport to standby for the emergency landing.
However, the Boeing 777, which was built in 2002, made a safe landing with no casualties reported.
Video footage of Flight 35 departing captured the dramatic moment unfolding when one of the six tyres on its left-side main landing gear assembly detached shortly after takeoff.
As the aircraft touched down on the runway, airport spokesman Dae Levine assured that the landing was secure, occurring two-thirds of the way down the strip.
All 235 passengers and 14 crew members were unharmed by the incident.
United Airlines confirmed that the plane was equipped to land safely even with missing or damaged tyres.
However, debris from the Boeing 777’s tyre landed in an on-airport employee parking lot at San Francisco International Airport, causing damage to several parked vehicles.
The United States Federal Aviation Administration had also launched an investigation into the incident.
United Airlines announced that the affected passengers would be transferred to another plane to continue their journey to Japan. The damaged aircraft was towed away for further inspection and maintenance.
An aviation expert told the AP that the loss of plane tyres was a rare occurrence and did not necessarily indicate a larger safety issue.
“In aviation, we never want to have single points of failure if they can be avoided, and this is a case in point,” former chief pilot for Delta Air Lines Alan Price was quoted as saying.
“The remaining tyres are fully capable of handling the load.”
Price added that this incident was likely a maintenance issue and not an issue involving the manufacturer.
In a separate incident, the embattled planemaker Boeing faces another safety investigation after a United Airlines’ 737 Max 8 aircraft last month had “stuck” rudder pedals after touching down on the runway during landing.
In a preliminary report, the National Transportation Safety Board said that during the landing roll-out, the rudder pedals did not respond to “normal” foot pressure while attempting to stay on the runway centreline.
On February 6, the plane managed to taxi to the gate at Newark Airport, New Jersey, with no injuries to the 161 passengers and crew onboard.
Boeing had said the issue was resolved after replacing three parts and the plane returned to service soon after.
There were two similar incidents linked to Boeing’s prior generation 737 NGs in 2019. – March 8, 2024