United Airlines flights: Boeing 757 plane loses wheel during take-off from Los Angeles International Airport - second time to happen this year

The United Airlines flight managed to landed safely in Denver after one of its wheels fell off during takeoff in California on Monday morning (8 July). The Boeing aircraft departed from Los Angeles International Airport just after 7.15am with 147 passengers and seven crew aboard when it shed a wheel, according to a spokesperson for United.

They added that there were no reported injuries either on the aircraft or on the ground and that the airline is now investigating what caused the incident. This is the second time that a Boeing aircraft operated by United has lost a wheel or tire during flight this year.

In March, a United flight was forced to make an emergency landing after at tire fell off mid-flight while taking off from San Francisco. No one was hurt in the incident but it damaged several parked cars.

The airline is currently under heightened scrutiny from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) due to various recent safety incidents. On Sunday (7 July) court documents showed that Boeing has agreed to plead guilty to fraud in order to avoid a criminal trial over two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed a total of 346 people.

The settlement drew swift criticism from victims’ families who slammed the move as a “slap on the wrist”. Lawyers for some of the relatives of those who died in the two crashes have said they will ask the judge to reject the agreement.

Paul Cassell, a lawyer for some of the families, said: “This sweetheart deal fails to recognise that because of Boeing’s conspiracy, 346 people died. Through crafty lawyering between Boeing and DoJ, the deadly consequences of Boeing’s crime are being hidden.”