A tire flew off a United Airlines Boeing plane shortly after taking off from San Francisco on Thursday, prompting an emergency landing in Los Angeles.
Moments after United Airlines Flight 35 ascended into the air, one of the tires on the underside of the Boeing 777-200 detached.
The plane landed safely at Los Angeles International Airport around 1:30 p.m. local time after the flight crew reported a landing gear issue, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
The flight — which was initially carrying 235 customers, 10 flight attendants and four pilots for a total 249 people on board — was headed to Osaka International Airport, the FAA said.
United said “Our team quickly arranged for a new aircraft to take customers to Osaka this evening.”
The FAA is investigating the incident.
“We’re grateful to our pilots and flight attendants for their professionalism in managing this situation,” United said in a statement. “We’re also grateful to our teams on the ground who were waiting with a tug to move the aircraft soon after it landed and to our teams in the airport who assisted customers upon their arrival.”
The airline said it will work with customers as well as those who owned damaged vehicles at San Francisco International Airport “to ensure their needs are addressed.”
It is unclear what kinds of vehicles sustained damage or what kind of damage they sustained. The airline did not say whether the vehicles were damaged as a result of the loose tire.
But video posted to social media from the parking lot at SFO shows damaged cars and a dented fence that appear to have been struck by the tire.
According to United, the Boeing 777-200 has “six tires on each of its two main landing gear struts” and is “designed to land safely with missing or damaged tires.”
