A wheel fell off a Boeing Company cargo jet and fell to the bottom shortly after the aircraft took off from Taranto, southern Italy, on Tuesday morning.
A video posted on Twitter reveals a sudden plume of black smoke from the undercarriage of a 747-400 Dreamlifter and a wheel like a large bowling ball flying and bouncing off the runway.
The plane, operated by Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings Inc., continued its journey and landed safely at a Boeing manufacturing facility in Charleston, South Carolina, roughly 11 hours later.
An Atlas Air-powered Boeing 747 Dreamlifter (N718BA) flying from Taranto (IT) to Charleston (USA) on Tuesday morning (11OCT22) misplaced a fundamental touchdown gear wheel throughout take-off.
operates a flight #5Y4231 and carries the Dreamliner elements. pic.twitter.com/R95UHkLD7V
— BoardingPass (@BoardingPassRO) 11 October 2022
The takeoff footage made it essentially the most tracked flight on the planet, with greater than 10,000 customers following the journey, in response to knowledge from Flightradar24.
#5Y4231, the Dreamlifter with the lacking wheel, is now touchdown in Charleston. It is vital to notice that when sub-optimal, the plane can land safely with out wheels. https://t.co/QpORCsFLQd pic.twitter.com/2JWeyaYDN9
— flightradar24 (@flightradar24) 11 October 2022
The purpose for the incident just isn’t clear but. A Boeing spokesman stated the corporate would assist Atlas Air’s investigation. Atlas Air was not instantly accessible to reply to a request for remark.
The Dreamlifter is a modified model of the 747-400 and used primarily to move Boeing 787 elements for the Arlington, Virginia-headquartered plane producer.
While barely smaller than the Airbus 380, the biggest passenger jet in operation, it’s nonetheless one of many largest specialist cargo plane on the planet.
With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS