- A Boeing 777 taking from SFO lost a tire that crushed a car in an airport parking lot.
- The falling debris was captured on video by a planespotter.
A car was crushed when a tire from a Boeing 777 came off during takeoff on Thursday.
The United Airlines jet was departing San Francisco International Airport for Osaka, Japan when the incident occurred.
One nearby planespotter caught the moment on video, while a local reporter found the smashed-up car.
United flight 35 from San Francisco to Osaka lost a tire from one its main landing gear struts on departure.
— Ryan Ewing (@FlyingHighRyan) March 7, 2024
The flight is diverting to Los Angeles.
(Video. https://t.co/pffvS97FJ8) pic.twitter.com/ttVaYu2ohj
Here’s the car smooshed by the United wheel at SFO. You can see the rubber smudge, and the circular imprint of the tire. pic.twitter.com/rue3ttai2u
— Wilson Walker (@WilsonKPIX) March 7, 2024
CBS News Bay Area reported that the tire landed in a parking lot for airport staff. One worker, named only as William, told the outlet: "I'm so lucky. Just two cars away. I'm almost the one."
After hitting the car, the tire then went through a fence and into a Hertz parking lot, the report added. Nobody was reportedly injured.
Evan Schroeder, a passenger on the flight, told KTVU that a message went out on the intercom saying "an object was interfering with the plane."
Half an hour later, as the jet dumped fuel to make an emergency landing, Schroeder said passengers were told: "Air traffic control had let them know it was actually a wheel that fell off during takeoff."
"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," a United Airlines representative told CBS.
After two hours in the air, the plane landed at Los Angeles International Airport, data from Flightradar24 showed.