United Airlines plane loses wheel on takeoff from LAX

LOS ANGELES — A United Airlines Boeing jet lost a wheel when it took off from LAX on Monday.

The wheel fell off the main landing gear of United Airlines Flight 1001 from Los Angeles to Denver. No one was hurt on the flight or on the ground, the airline said in a statement to The Associated Press.

The flight landed safely in Denver, the intended destination, CNN reported. There were 174 passengers and seven crew members on the flight, The Los Angeles Times reported.

The wheel has been recovered in Los Angeles and the company has opened an investigation into why it came off the Boeing 757-200.

The Federal Aviation Administration is also investigating.

This isn’t the first time a United plane lost a wheel during a flight.

A tire fell off on March 7 after the plane, en route to Osaka, Japan, took off from San Francisco. It landed on a car in the airport employee parking lot. That plane safely landed in Los Angeles, CNN reported.