A United Airlines plane lost a landing gear wheel during takeoff from Los Angeles but landed safely in Denver, its planned destination, with no injuries, the airline said.
“The wheel was recovered in Los Angeles and we are investigating the cause of the incident,” United said in a statement Monday. It was the second such incident for the airline this year.
The plane involved in Monday’s incident was a nearly 30-year-old Boeing 757-200, according to data from FlightRadar24, which was carrying 174 passengers and seven crew members. Boeing stopped production of the 757 in 2004.
In March, a United Airlines Boeing 777-200 en route to Japan lost a tire during flight after takeoff from San Francisco. The plane landed safely at Los Angeles International Airport.
The wheel hit a car in an airport staff parking lot, breaking a car window. No one was injured.
Monday’s incident was the latest in a series of incidents involving United Airlines planes. One plane was forced to make an emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport in March because of a problem with its hydraulic system. Elsewhere that month, another flight attempted to land in Houston but rolled off the taxiway and landed in the grass.
Also in March, a flight carrying 167 passengers made an emergency landing in Houston after bright flames erupted from the engine of United Flight 1118, a Boeing 737-900 en route from Houston to Fort Myers, Florida.
Troubles with U.S. flights made headlines in January when a door plug on an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 blew up shortly after takeoff from Portland Oregon, forcing an emergency landing. Several people were injured.
In April, United Airlines blamed the incident for a $200 million (£161 million) loss in profits in the first three months of the year, saying the mid-flight disruption forced rival airline Alaska Airlines to ground many Boeing planes, adding to the losses.
With Maya Yang, Jack Simpson, Reuters and Associated Press