A United Airlines Boeing 777 lost a tire shortly after taking off from San Francisco International Airport.

The aircraft, traveling to Osaka, Japan, Thursday morning, was diverted to Los Angeles International Airport.

“At approximately 11:35 a.m., United Flight 35 departing to Osaka lost a portion of landing gear tire during takeoff,” a United representative said, according to ABC 7.

The falling landing gear from the United flight damaged multiple vehicles in the San Francisco International Airport parking lot.

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The flight landed safely at LAX.

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The New York Post reports:

The Boeing 777-200 plane, which was heading to Osaka with 235 passengers, 10 flight attendants and four pilots on board, safely landed at LAX, United Airlines confirmed to The Post.

“We are working to arrange a new aircraft to continue this trip for our customers,” a spokesperson said.

The tire debris landed in an employee parking lot at the San Francisco airport, “causing damage to several vehicles,” a rep told The Post.

“There were no injuries. The runway was briefly closed to clear debris, but has since reopened,” they added.

A video posted online from the airport showed a vehicle with its back end smashed and a fence damaged in the aftermath.

The plane is designed to land without a problem when tires are either missing or damaged, the airline said.

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From ABC 7:

Aviation experts said planes losing tires is a rare occurrence and not indicative of 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,” said Alan Price, a former chief pilot for Delta Air Lines.

“The remaining tires are fully capable of handling the load,” he added.

Price said a loose tire it’s normally a maintenance issue and not a problem created by the manufacturer.

John Cox, a retired pilot and professor of aviation safety at the University of Southern California, agreed. “I don’t see any impact for Boeing as it was a United maintenance team that changed the tire,” he said.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) released a statement saying it will investigate this incident.

Boeing and United Airlines are having a bad week as another flight experienced engine difficulties.

A United Airlines’ Boeing plane made an emergency landing in Texas minutes into its flight after flames erupted from one of the engines.

Dramatic footage showed flames bursting from the engine shortly after takeoff from Houston.

United Airlines Plane Makes Emergency Landing After Flames Burst From Engine

 

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