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Shocking image shows wheel falling off Boeing plane mid-air

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Shocking image shows wheel falling off Boeing plane mid-air

This is the second time this year a Boeing plane has lost a wheel during flight.

Boeing has had its fair share of mishaps.

For the second time this year, a Boeing plane has lost a wheel while in the air.

Passengers aboard the United Airlines flight experienced the issue on Monday.

A spokesperson for the airline confirmed that the wheel came off from the landing gear of a nearly 30-year-old Boeing 757-200.

The plane took off from Los Angeles around 7:15am PT and safely landed at Denver International Airport at about 10:10am local time, according to Bloomberg News, which was the first to report the incident.

Gary Hershorn / Contributor/Getty
Gary Hershorn / Contributor/Getty

United mentioned the tyre was later found in Los Angeles. The wheel had apparently landed on a car in an airport employee parking lot, breaking a car window. Luckily, no one was hurt.

A video on YouTube shows the moment chit-chat stops between pilots at LAX as they witness the tyre coming off a nearby plane. From this, a picture has been captured to show the exact moment the tyre falls off.

'Allegiant 2388, that B75 that just took off, I believe United, its tyre came off and came rolling past us like B7-B8,' one pilot can be heard saying.

The flight was carrying 174 passengers and seven crew members - all of whom were safe and uninjured.

'United Flight 1001 landed safely in Denver after losing one wheel on takeoff from Los Angeles International Airport,' a United spokesperson wrote in an emailed statement.

'The wheel has been recovered in Los Angeles, and we are investigating what caused this event.'

John McArthur/Unsplash
John McArthur/Unsplash

Although they landed safely, it was not without its bumps.

Allen Stubblefield, a regular flyer who was on the plane travelling from southern California to Iowa with a connection in Denver, shared his experience.

He said the flight attendant got up to announce: 'brace, brace, brace' on the PA.

'It was not the smoothest landing and I didn't expect that,' Stubblefield added. 'There was a bump, but that was it.'

Back in March, United had a similar issue when a Boeing 777-200 with 249 people on board took off from San Francisco and lost a wheel seconds after takeoff.

No one was hurt but several parked cars were damaged from the impact.

The flight was originally headed to Osaka, Japan, but had to be diverted to Los Angeles which led to a safety review by the FAA.

Featured Image Credit: @RadarBoxCom/X / Gary Hershorn / Contributor/Getty