A second United Airlines airplane lost a tire during takeoff from a California airport on Monday, just months after a tire fell off a Boeing 777-200 airplane and damaged multiple vehicles.
According to Fox Business, the incident occurred at roughly 7 a.m. on Monday, when United Airlines flight 1001 was scheduled to fly from Los Angeles International Airport to Denver International Airport. The Boeing 757-200, which was carrying 174 passengers and seven crew members, safely completed its flight to Denver despite losing a tire during takeoff.
According to FlightAware, the Boeing 757-200 aircraft landed in Denver at 10:51 a.m. (local time). United Airlines confirmed to Fox News that Monday’s incident is being investigated.
In a statement obtained by KTLA 5, Anousha Rasta, a United Airlines spokesperson, said, “The wheel has been recovered in Los Angeles, and we are investigating what caused this event.” Rasta explained that no injuries were reported either on the aircraft or on the ground as a result of Monday’s incident.
READ MORE: Videos: Plane loses tire during takeoff
In an audio clip shared on YouTube by VASAviation, a pilot can be heard telling an air traffic controller, “A tire came off that B-757 that took off. We saw it rolling down past bravo-seven, bravo-eight [holding positions].”
KTLA 5 reported that the air traffic controller notified the United Airlines flight 1001 pilot of the issue and that the pilot appeared to be unaware that the Boeing 757-200 had lost a tire. The outlet noted that another pilot saw the tire roll across two runways before entering a cargo area at the airport.
Monday’s issue also caused air traffic control to divert an Air Canada flight to allow crews to inspect the runway.
Earlier this year, a United Airlines Boeing 777-200 airplane lost one of its tires during takeoff from San Francisco International Airport, causing the flight to be diverted to Los Angeles. While the tire incident did not cause any injuries, it landed in an employee parking lot and damaged multiple vehicles.
At the time, a United Airlines spokesperson told Fox News, “The 777-200 has six tires on each of its two main landing gear struts. The aircraft is designed to land safely with missing or damaged tires.”
