United Airlines Plane Loses Tire After Takeoff at LAX, the Second Time in Four Months

A United Airlines flight departing from Los Angeles lost a tire during takeoff Monday, its second Boeing aircraft to have lost a tire in four months.

The Boeing 757-200 departed Los Angeles International Airport around 7:16 a.m. and continued to its destination at Denver International Airport even after losing the tire, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The plane landed safely around 10:10 a.m. with no reported injuries on the aircraft or on the ground, United Airlines said in a statement.

"The wheel has been recovered in Los Angeles, and we are investigating what caused this event," United said. The company did not say which tire on the aircraft was lost.

The plane had 174 passengers and seven crew members on board, according to United.

United and FAA said they would investigate what caused the tire to fall.

This is the second incident involving a tire falling from a United aircraft mid-air in four months.

In March, a Japan-bound United flight lost one of its main landing tires seconds after takeoff from San Francisco International Airport. The tire landed in an employee parking lot and damaged several vehicles. The Boeing 777, which carried 235 passengers and 14 crew members, made an emergency landing at LAX and was towed away with no reported injuries.

United did not respond to an inquiry about whether the causes for the incidents were potentially the same.

In January, a Boeing 757 operated by Delta Air Lines lost its nose wheel while preparing for takeoff at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta. Delta said a nose gear tire and rim had come loose and then rolled down a hill. Passengers had to exit the plane, but no one was injured.

Concerns surrounding the safety of Boeing planes has been circulating for years, particularly after two crashes of its 737 Max jets killed 346 people in October 2018 and March 2019. Boeing agreed to plead guilty to a criminal fraud charge over the deadly crashes Monday, avoiding a criminal trial.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

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