United Airlines Flight 35 from San Francisco to Osaka, Japan, changed course to Los Angeles Thursday after a landing gear tire fell off during takeoff.
The Boeing 777 left San Francisco International Airport at 10:53 a.m. and landed in Los Angeles at 1:39 p.m., according to FlightAware.
The jet had 235 passengers, 10 crew members and four pilots, United told San Francisco’s KRON-TV.
“United Flight 35 lost one tire after takeoff from San Francisco and landed safely at LAX. We are arranging for a new aircraft to continue this trip for our customers,” an airline spokesperson told KRON.
That second flight left Los Angeles International Airport for Osaka’s Kansai International Airport at 8:17 p.m. Thursday, according to FlightAware.
No injuries were reported on the ground, but the tire damaged cars in the San Francisco airport parking lot.
“At the speed and velocity that it was coming down, it would have crushed somebody like a grape. … It bounced in the staff parking lot and it bounced onto a car, a small compact car … bounced again really high, and tires still spinning … landed on a red Tesla and completely totaled and crushed the red Tesla,” witness Gary Glass said on San Francisco ABC affiliate KGO-TV.
The airline said it will take care of the cars.
“We will work with customers as well as with the owners of the damaged vehicles in SFO to ensure their needs are addressed,” United said in a statement to Bay Area NBC channel KNTV.
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.
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