Wheel falls off British Airways flight as it takes off for Heathrow

A London-bound British Airways aircraft lost a wheel during take-off from Las Vegas on Monday evening.

Flight BA274 from Harry Reid International to Heathrow airport appeared to drop a rear landing gear wheel just moments after its departure.

Video footage of the incident captured on a Flightradar live stream shows an object falling from the right side of the aircraft shortly after it left the runway.

The Airbus A350-1000 continued on its almost 10-hour journey, later landing safely in London with no reported injuries.

According to FlightAware, the aircraft took off at 8.44pm local time, arriving in the UK at around 2.30pm.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is investigating the incident.

It said: “British Airways Flight 274 lost a tyre during takeoff from Harry Reid International airport in Las Vegas around 8:45 pm local time on Monday, 26 January. The Airbus A350 continued to Heathrow Airport in London, where it landed safely.”

A spokesperson for British Airways said: “Safety and security underpins everything we do and we’re supporting the authorities with their investigations.”

It’s not the first aircraft to lose a wheel while flying this year.

Earlier this month, the front wheel of a United Airlines flight detached during a hard landing at Orlando’s main airport.

A video shows one of the wheels on the front landing gear breaking off on impact with the asphalt and rolling away onto a grassy bank.

The incident occurred when United flight 2323 arrived in Florida after a routine two-hour journey from Chicago O’Hare airport on 18 January.

A brief ground stop was issued at Orlando after the plane lost its wheel, but it was lifted shortly after.

In a preliminary statement, the FAA said: “The aircraft became disabled after making a hard landing.”

Read more: United Airlines plane loses wheel after hard landing at Orlando airport