The woes continue for Boeing, and the airplane manufacturer avoided another near disaster from one of its passenger jetliners.

A Boeing 737 had to make an emergency landing in South Africa over the weekend after one of its wheels fell off during takeoff.

Per Aviation24:

On 21 April, a FlySafair Boeing 737-800 (registered ZS-FGE) operated domestic flight FA212 between Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa. During take-off, however, the aircraft’s left outer main gear wheel separated. Ground staff were able to determine the damage and informed the pilots. The crew discontinued the climb at 22,000 feet and entered a holding pattern.

190 minutes after initial take-off, and after a visual inspection by air traffic control, the Boeing 737-800 landed on runway 21R. Further damage occurred to the rim during the landing. Nobody got injured during the mishap.

Footage shows the moment the Boeing 737 landed at the airport:

From the New York Post:

Fortunately, no one was injured in the scary incident — thanks in part to the eagle-eyed ground crew who noticed the missing landing wheel immediately after the Cape Town-bound plane went airborne.

“The crew were alerted to the observation and the decision was taken to return to Johannesburg,” FlySafair spokesperson Kirby Gordon told local outlet EWN Eyewitness News.

“Flight FA212 adjusted course back for Johannesburg and entered a holding pattern near Parys to burn off some fuel to lighten the aircraft for landing.”

The plane made a low pass over OR Tambo so experts could assess the landing gear before giving the OK for the crew to return to the runway.

“The wheel affected was one of the two attached to the left rear landing strut. The aircraft proceeded into a second holding pattern over Centurion to burn away remaining fuel before their final landing approach.”

The passengers deplaned and were loaded on a backup aircraft to Cape Town, albeit it several hours after they were initially expected to land.

The incident comes as Boeing faces a series of Senate hearings over its safety culture and manufacturing quality — which have come under scrutiny following a plethora of airplane malfunctions.

As 100 Percent Fed Up reported, “an engineer at Boeing testified before a Senate investigations subcommittee that the company’s 787 Dreamliner aircraft could “fall apart” due to quality issues in the manufacturing process.”

[WATCH] Boeing Whistleblower Testifies Before Congress, Asked If Planes Are Safe

The incident also follows the suspicious death of Boeing whistleblower John Barnett.

“If Anything Happens To Me, It’s Not Suicide”, Deceased Boeing Whistleblower Allegedly Said

Join The Conversation. Leave a Comment.


We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.