A United plane’s tire fell on some cars while taking off from SFO. The incident occurred shortly before noon, and it was even caught on video by YouTuber avgeek Cali Planes.
The 777-200 with 249 souls onboard was heading to Osaka, Japan. As soon as the plane was airborne, a tire fell off one of the main landing gear struts. It crushed some cars parked below in an employee parking lot. Fortunately, nobody was hurt.
ABOVE: YouTuber ‘Cali Planes’ caught the incident on video, skip to the 10:30 mark to see it
Several cars crushed
The other landing gear appeared to retract without issue. The plane was diverted to LAX and landed there without issue.
As many avgeeks already know, the planes can land just fine with a tire missing. The 777-200 has 6 tires on each of its mains. Still, some car owners tonight must be pretty unhappy. Several cars were hit, with shattered windows, crushed tops and severe damage observed on several.
Back at SFO the runway was closed for a short time to make sure there was no debris that could be a danger to other aircraft. It was reopened soon after and operations carried on as usual.
United releases statement
“United flight 35 lost one tire after takeoff from San Francisco and landed at LAX.,” said United Airlines in a statement this afternoon. “Our team quickly arranged for a new aircraft to take customers to Osaka this evening.
“We’re grateful to our pilots and flight attendants for their professionalism in managing this situation,” added United. “We’re also grateful to our teams on the ground who were waiting with a tug to move the aircraft soon after it landed and to our teams in the airport who assisted customers upon their arrival. We will work with customers as well as with the owners of the damaged vehicles in SFO to ensure their needs are addressed.”
The FAA has of course opened an investigation.
