Tyre comes off a United aircraft from SFO after takeoff

Shortly after the United Airlines flight took off on Thursday from San Francisco, a tyre came off the aircraft.

According to United, Flight 35 was diverted to Los Angeles International Airport, where it made a safe landing.

"The aircraft is designed to land safely with damaged or missing tyres," United told KTVU in a statement.

There was a parking area close to San Francisco International Airport where the 265-pound wheel and tyre was visible. There were police cars not far away.

It is thought that the tyre is what caused the damage to the parked autos.

249 passengers were on board the aircraft, which was headed for Osaka, Japan.

According to United, there are six tyres on each of the two main landing gear struts of the Boeing 777-200 aircraft.

A YouTube video that was posted by Cali Planes had footage of the wheel falling from the aircraft.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the airline industry are governed by the U.S. Department of Transportation, whose inspector general, Mary Schiavo, a veteran aviation lawyer, said this was "a very significant event." Schiavo claimed it is uncommon and associated with older aircraft.

The aircraft was probably carrying 48,000 gallons of fuel, or enough to fill five semi-tanker trucks, when it took off for Osaka. The fact that there were still more than 40,000 gallons on board when the plane touched down at a speed of between 160 and 185 miles per hour presented another challenge for the landing after the quick voyage to Los Angeles.

According to Shiavo, there is redundancy in the aircraft's design. She explained that having redundancies in this instance was advantageous because it meant there were additional wheels to fall back on.

However, there is a great deal of risk. "When you have a landing without all your gear, your wheels, there's always a concern if the others go or pop," Schiavo stated.

The inquiry is about to begin. "They do need to do a thorough inspection. Inspectors will need to be dispatched to that area. See what went wrong after they complete this and the replacement," Schiavo remarked.

An accident that needs a thorough NTSB investigation will be one in which there were casualties or damage to land structures. A automobile or a fence will be considered an incident and require significantly less action if they don't qualify.

 

Source: twitter.com