Incident at San Francisco Airport: United Airlines plane lost a tire during takeoff
The US Federal Aviation Administration is investigating an incident involving a United Airlines Boeing 777-200. During takeoff from San Francisco International Airport, one of the main landing gear tires fell off, damaging several cars in the parking lot.
Fortunately, the crew managed to land safely at Los Angeles International Airport. According to CNN, no one was injured on the ground.
According to San Francisco airport spokesman Doug Yakel, the plane "lost part of a landing gear tire" at about 11:35 a.m. local time on Thursday, March 7. It crashed into an airport employee parking lot, damaging several cars.
United Airlines Flight 35, with 249 passengers and crew on board, was diverted to Los Angeles, where a new plane was prepared for the passengers.
United Airlines reported that the Boeing 777-200 was designed to land safely with missing or damaged tires.
The runway at San Francisco International Airport was briefly closed for clearing but was later reopened, so many flights were not affected.
As previously reported by TravelWise, United Airlines announced that it is working to implement a system that will allow TSA passengers to pass through security without showing their boarding pass or documents.