(LOS ANGELES) – A Boeing jet lost a tire during takeoff from Los Angeles International Airport on Monday, in the latest embarrassing episode for the U.S. aircraft manufacturer, which has been plagued by setbacks and technical glitches.
United Airlines, the US airline that operates the plane, confirmed the incident in a press release.
“The wheel was recovered in Los Angeles, and we are investigating the cause of this event,” she said.
The plane, a Boeing 757-200, was carrying 174 passengers and a crew of seven and was bound for Denver, Colorado.
He managed to land without damage despite losing his wheel 25 minutes late.
The plane was delivered to the company 30 years ago, in 1994, according to a Boeing spokesman.
The aircraft manufacturer has stopped producing the 757-200 since 2004.
This incident prompted a new investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
This comes at a time when Boeing has been facing a series of production and quality problems for several months, which has damaged its reputation.
The company is under close scrutiny, after a January 5 incident that turned out to be the last straw: the door of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 broke off mid-flight.
The Federal Aviation Administration on Monday also ordered an “immediate” inspection of more than 2,600 737 family aircraft in the United States, looking for a problem with the oxygen generators' connection.
Facing difficulties, the aircraft manufacturer presented a “comprehensive plan” at the end of May to restore quality.
He also just reached a deal with the US Justice Department to avoid an embarrassing trial, in the case related to the crashes of two 737 Max 8 planes in 2018 and 2019, which left 346 people dead.
Boeing already signed a plea agreement in 2021, paying $2.5 billion to avoid criminal prosecution of its executives.
However, the Ministry of Justice considered that it had violated the obligations contained in this agreement, which requires it in particular to improve its compliance and ethics program.
The new agreement reached on Sunday calls for an additional $243.6 million fine and a minimum investment of $455 million in “compliance and security programs.”
