A United Airlines flight was forced to make an emergency landing in Los Angeles on Thursday after losing a tire during takeoff out of San Francisco en route to Japan.
Flight 35 left at 11:35 a.m. for Osaka when the 265-pound tire plunged to the ground. No one was hurt, though the cars the tire smashed onto were not so lucky, and neither was a fence, as seen in footage from local NBC affiliate KNTV.
In video of the takeoff, the tire can be seen detaching from the plane and plummeting to Earth seconds after the plane leaves the ground.
“United Flight 35 lost one tire after takeoff from San Francisco and landed at LAX,” a United spokesperson told the Daily News by email, referring to the code for Los Angeles International Airport. “Our team quickly arranged for a new aircraft to take customers to Osaka this evening.”
The Boeing 777 was carrying 235 passengers and 14 crew, including 10 flight attendants and four pilots, for a total of 249 people, United told the News.
With six tires on each of two landing-gear struts, “the aircraft is designed to land safely with missing or damaged tires,” the airline added.
San Francisco airport operations were barely disrupted, spokesman Doug Yakel told the News.
“The tire debris landed in an on-airport employee parking lot, causing damage to several vehicles,” Yakel said via email. “There were no injuries. The runway was briefly closed to clear debris, but has since reopened. No further impact to airport operations.”
The Federal Aviation Administration is looking into the matter, a spokesman said.
United appeared aware that vehicles had been damaged, and promised redress.
“We’re grateful to our pilots and flight attendants for their professionalism in managing this situation,” the airline said. “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. We will work with customers as well as with the owners of the damaged vehicles in SFO to ensure their needs are addressed.”
With News Wire Services
