FlySafair Boeing 737 loses wheel after takeoff in South Africa: Video

World News

From Katherine Donlevy

A Boeing 737 was forced to make an emergency landing in South Africa on Sunday after one of its main wheels was thrown off the aircraft during takeoff.

Dramatic video shows Smoke explodes from the exposed wheel hub as the packed FlySafair flight lands on the runway at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg.

Seconds later, a huge bang sounds as the plane screeches across the path before finally coming to a stop. A second video shows.

Horrifying images show that both the landing gear and the right wing partially collapsed in the incident.

Fortunately, no one was injured in the scary incident – thanks in part to the alert ground crew, who noticed the missing landing wheel immediately after the plane took off on the way to Cape Town.

“The crew was made aware of the observation and the decision was made to return to Johannesburg,” FlySafair spokesman Kirby Gordon told local news outlet EWN Eyewitness News.

“Flight FA212 adjusted its course back to Johannesburg and entered a holding pattern near Parys to burn off some fuel to lighten the aircraft for landing.”

The aircraft flew low over OR Tambo so experts could assess the landing gear before giving the crew the OK to return to the runway.

“The affected wheel was one of the two attached to the left rear landing strut. The aircraft entered a second holding pattern over Centurion to burn off remaining fuel before the final landing approach.”

The passengers disembarked and were loaded onto a replacement plane to Cape Town, but not until several hours after the originally expected landing.

The incident came as Boeing faced a series of Senate hearings over its safety culture and manufacturing quality, which came under scrutiny after a rash of aircraft malfunctions.

Boeing declined to comment on the incident in South Africa, referring The Post to FlySafair – which operates its own Boeing fleet but did not respond to a request for comment.

Last week, testimony before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations raised questions about missing records surrounding the panel as well as production concerns about two separate Boeing wide-body jets.

Boeing has been struggling with a safety crisis ever since Door plug plate blew off an Alaska Airlines flight that departed from Portland, Oregon on January 5th.