Tire falls off United flight departing SFO, crushing several vehicles in parking lot, company says

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- A tire fell off a United Airlines flight departing from San Francisco International Airport to Osaka, Japan Thursday morning, officials confirmed.

"At approximately 11:35 a.m., United Flight 35 departing to Osaka lost a portion of landing gear tire during takeoff," a United representative said.

The tire debris landed in one of the airport's employee parking lots. There were no injuries reported, but SKY7 was over the scene, where police placed caution tape around cars that appeared to be hit by the tire.

In a statement, United Airlines said the flight was diverted to LAX where it landed safely. The company says crews are now working to arrange a new aircraft to take passengers to Osaka on Thursday evening.

United said the flight had 235 customers, 10 flight attendants and four pilots -- for a total 249 people on board.

"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," the airline said.

Officials say the runway was briefly closed to clear debris, but was soon reopened, with no further impact to airport operations anticipated.

An eyewitness is describing what he saw after the tire fell and damaged several cars.

"At the speed and velocity that it was coming down, it would have crushed somebody like a grape," said Gary Glass.

He described to us what it looked like watching that tire. The plane it fell from had just taken off at SFO, seen on video that was recorded by Cali Planes on YouTube. Glass was driving near the rental car facility and just 50 feet away as he watched the tire hit nearby vehicles.

"I look up and it's a tire spinning at a rapid speed. It bounced in the staff parking lot and it bounced onto a car, a small compact car and I thought that it was going to crush that car and stay there but it actually bounced again really high, and tires still spinning and then landed on a red Tesla and completely totaled and crushed the red Tesla," said Glass.

Multiple cars were damaged but no one hurt.

https://abc7news.com/flight-emergency-sfo-tire-falls-from-united-airlines-to-osaka-35/14500843/

also Last week, John Barnett was found dead by "suicide" the day before he was supposed to testify in court against Boeing relating to concerns about production issues related to quality and safety.

Boeing whistleblower found dead in apparent suicide

A prominent Boeing whistleblower who reported on safety and quality control concerns in the company’s production line was found dead Saturday, according to South Carolina authorities.

John Barnett, 62, died of an apparent self-inflicted wound on Friday, the Charleston County Coroner’s office said. He was found in his truck at his hotel’s parking lot.

A 32-year veteran of Boeing, Barnett’s 2019 whistleblower allegations claimed that overworked employees at its South Carolina plant frequently fitted substandard parts on planes and reported faulty oxygen systems that could result in as many as 1 in 4 oxygen masks not operating properly.

Boeing denied Barnett’s claims, but a follow-up investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration lent credence to some aspects of his allegations. A report found that more than 50 “non-conforming” parts were unable to be traced and were lost in the company’s system.

Barnett was in Charleston to be questioned for a long-running retaliation suit against the company.

His death comes as Boeing is under increased regulatory scrutiny for its 737 Max aircraft manufacturing process after a door blew out of a flight midair in January. The incident launched a widespread investigation into Boeing manufacturing, discovering lax quality control.

Barnett’s claims were not related to the 737 Max or the Washington manufacturing plant involved in the scandal.

In a statement to the BBC, Boeing said: “We are saddened by Mr. Barnett’s passing, and our thoughts are with his family and friends.”

https://thehill.com/policy/transportation/4524968-boeing-whistleblower-found-dead-in-apparent-suicide/

Join our discord chat here

https://dsc.gg/livegore