In another episode of setbacks and technical failures accumulating for the American aircraft manufacturing giant, a Boeing plane lost a wheel during takeoff from Los Angeles Airport on Monday. United Airlines flight 1001 from Los Angeles (LAX) to Denver (DEN) lost a tire during takeoff this morning at around 7:15 AM PDT. Interestingly, this Boeing 757-200 (Reg: N14107) had been featured during Sunday's Airline Videos Live broadcast at LAX just the day before.
The American airline "United Airlines," operating the aircraft, confirmed the incident, stating in a statement that the wheel was recovered in Los Angeles. They also announced their intention to conduct an investigation to clarify the reason for the occurrence. The aircraft, a Boeing 757-200, was headed to the city of Denver, Colorado, with 174 passengers and a crew of seven on board. They confirmed that despite losing the wheel, the plane was able to land safely but with a delay of 25 minutes.
According to a spokesperson from Boeing, United Airlines received this aircraft in 1994, which is 30 years ago. It is noteworthy that Boeing ceased production of this model in 2004. This incident comes at a time when the company has been facing a series of production and quality issues for months, damaging its reputation.
On Monday, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the United States stated that over 2,600 Boeing 737 aircraft need inspections due to concerns about the potential failure of passenger oxygen masks in emergency situations. Meanwhile, Boeing announced that it reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice concerning two fatal crashes. Court documents indicate that the airline giant will plead guilty to a criminal conspiracy charge of fraud. Prosecutors concluded that Boeing violated a previous settlement related to the incidents that resulted in the deaths of 346 people in Ethiopia and Indonesia more than five years ago. Furthermore, the company is under intense scrutiny following a near-disastrous incident in January when a Boeing 737 Max 9 lost its emergency exit door while in the air, despite the fact that the aircraft was delivered to Alaska Airlines in October.
