United Airlines customers have been concerned with the standard of Boeing planes after a takeoff disaster in San Francisco saw a tire drop from the sky.
Barely in the third month of 2024 and already multiple airlines have found themselves the subject of scrutiny due to planes seemingly falling apart mid-flight.
Just days into the new year, Alaska Airlines went viral after a brand new 171 Boeing 737 Max 9 was forced to make an emergency landing as a window and its accompanying cabin panel had blown out.
Now, United Airlines is feeling the heat after a mishap during takeoff saw a Boeing 777-200’s tire fall into a nearby employee parking lot at San Francisco International Airport on the morning of March 7. And online sleuths have been quick to point to one common denominator — Boeing planes.
BREAKING: United Airlines Boeing 777 loses tire while taking off from San Francisco, crushing cars on the ground, per BNO: pic.twitter.com/PpQPgqIuQu
— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) March 7, 2024
While several vehicles were left damaged by the falling tire, no injuries were reported and the Japan-bound flight was quickly diverted to Los Angeles for an emergency landing.
Aviation experts have stressed the rarity of the situation, expert Mike McCarron telling NBC Bay Area, “It’s like you bought a Chevy two, three years ago and the wheel came off. Well, who’s maintaining your car for you at that time?”
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“This is where I really think they’ll be focusing on United’s maintenance procedures and look at their paperwork and see where things happened,” McCarron continued. “Now, if they point to a structural problem, then you’re going to get Boeing involved as far as the build of the aircraft.”
But despite the insistence that Boeing may likely not be to blame for the accident, online discourse has led many to question the safety of Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
Production facility at Boeing 🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡 pic.twitter.com/rpDL9hVneN
— N Suresh (@NSuresh_ECW) March 7, 2024
“What the heck is going on with Boeing planes?!” one person wrote on X. Another agreed, writing, “It is not a good year for Boeing.”
Claiming that “there is a Boeing horror story every week,” many flyers stated that they no longer felt the company’s planes were “safe.”
Some though pointed out that the cause of the accident was still unknown, following McCarron’s lead by stating maintenance was likely to blame; “Maintenance is getting worse nowadays with these large companies… That is an overall sign of negligence, especially on the mechanics’ end. The lives at risk when taking off or landing as well as mid-flight is astonishing.”
