United Airlines has confirmed that a wheel fell off a nearly thirty year old Boeing 757 airplane early on Monday morning as it was taking from Los Angeles International Airport.
The incident comes less than five months after a wheel fell off a United Airlines Boeing 777 as it was taking off from San Francisco International Airport. In that incident, the giant wheel fell in an employee parking lot, crushing several cars.
In this latest incident, there have not yet been any reports of damage and United Airlines said in a statement that the wheel has been recovered and that an investigation is underway.
There were 174 passengers and seven crew members onboard United Flight 1001 which departed LAX at around 7:15 am on July 8, bound for Denver. Unlike the wheel loss in March, the pilots continued onto Denver where the aircraft landed without incident.
The 757 has the same size main gear tires as Boeing’s 737 model but the aircraft manufacturer doubled the number of tires on each bogie meaning that the 757 has a total of eight tires on the main landing gear.
One of the reasons for so many tires is precisely in case a tire bursts or is otherwise lost, meaning that the aircraft can continue to takeoff and land safely.
In fact, one of the biggest dangers of losing a wheel during a takeoff is for people and property on the ground that might be struck by a falling tire.
United has faced a lot of increased scrutiny over recent months due to a slew of worrying accidents and mishaps, including losing pieces of aircraft during flight. Also in March, a panel from the underside of a 25-year-old Boeing 737-800 was ripped off during a flight from San Francisco to Oregon.
The damage was only discovered after the plane landed at Rogue Valley International/Medford Airport, and the pilots were seemingly unaware that anything was wrong with the plane.
And last month, a United Airlines Airbus A320 reportedly dropped engine parts during takeoff from Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut.
Back in March, United CEO Scott Kirby was forced to address the airline’s recent safety record in an open letter to frequent flyers, saying that “safety is our highest priority and is at the center of everything we do”.
Around the same time, the FAA opened a probe into safety practices at the carrier and put a temporary bar on United opening new routes or certifying new aircraft while the audit got underway.
In a statement, a spokesperson for United Airlines told us: “United Flight 1001 landed safely in Denver after losing one wheel on takeoff from Los Angeles International Airport.”
“The wheel has been recovered in Los Angeles, and we are investigating what caused this event.”
