KUALA LUMPUR – A wheel dropped off a Boeing plane operated by United Airlines departing Los Angeles on Monday, reportedly the second incident for the same airline in recent months.
The wheel of the Boeing 757-200 was recovered in Los Angeles and the airline said it is investigating what caused it to fall off, AFP reports.
The US Federal Aviation Administration is also investigating the incident.
There were no injuries from the incident both on the ground and to the 174 passengers and seven crew onboard the flight.
AFP also reported a Boeing spokesman saying that the plane in Monday’s incident was first put in service 30 years ago, in 1994. Production of the 757 model was discontinued in 2004.
In March, a tire fell off a Boeing 777 operated by United Airlines after taking off from San Francisco. Originally bound for Japan, the plane made an emergency landing.
The latest incident involving planes by the troubled aerospace giant comes as its management agreed to plead guilty in a fraud settlement case with the US Department of Justice over two fatal crashes involving Boeing 737 MAX planes. – July 10, 2024