Car crushed in SFO parking lot after tire falls off United Airlines jet during takeoff
SAN FRANCISCO INT'L AIRPORT – A car was crushed and vehicles were damaged in a parking lot at San Francisco International Airport, after a tire fell off a United Airlines jet during takeoff Thursday morning.
According to airport officials, around 11:35 a.m., United Airlines Flight 35 lost a piece of its landing gear. Tire debris from the Boeing 777-200 landed in an employee parking lot at the airport.
Video from chopper shows damaged vehicles in the parking lot, along with where the tire came to rest.
One of the vehicles was crushed from the falling tire.
"You say the wheel fell off from where?" asked William, an SFO worker who came back to his car, just two spots away from the crushed car. "I'm so lucky. Just two cars away. I'm almost the one."
After crushing the vehicle, the tire went through a fence and into another parking lot, which is used by Hertz to store rental vehicles. Hertz employees told CBS News Bay Area off camera that none of them saw or heard the impact.
Officials said the runway was briefly closed to clear debris.
There are no reports of injuries either at the San Francisco Internatinoal Airport or on the airplane.
United Flight 35 landed safely at Los Angeles International Airport around 1:20 p.m. The flight was bound for Osaka, Japan and had a total of 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," said a United Airlines spokesperson.
The airline said it is arranging a new aircraft for the affected passengers. It was not immediately known when the passengers would continue their journey to Japan.
Officials with the Federal Aviation Administration said the incident is under investigation.
Wilson Walker contributed to this report.
