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A tire fell off of a United Airlines plane as it was taking off from San Francisco International Airport on Thursday (March 7). United said the tire was one of 12 on the Boeing 777's two landing gear struts, noting "the aircraft is designed to land safely with missing or damaged tires."
The tire crashed down in an employee parking lot and damaged at least one car. Nobody was injured by the falling tire. Officials said the runway was briefly shut down to clear debris.
The Japan-bound flight was forced to reroute to Los Angeles International Airport, where it safely landed two hours later.
"We're grateful to our pilots and flight attendants for their professionalism in managing this situation," United Airlines said in a statement. "We're also grateful to our teams on the ground who were waiting with a tug to move the aircraft soon after it landed and to our teams in the airport who assisted customers upon their arrival."
The Federal Aviation Administration said it is investigating the incident.