On 26 January, the right, rear main landing gear wheel fell off a British Airways A350-1000 operating from Las Vegas to London as flight BA274. The wheel fell off the aircraft as the landing gear was being retracted. The flight continued for a safe and uneventful landing in London and no one was injured on the ground in Las Vegas. Video of the incident was captured on our automated live stream at Las Vegas Airport.
British Airways flight BA274 taxied from gate E1 to runway 26R for a full length departure at 05:05 UTC (21:05 local time). As the aircraft lifts off the runway about 40 seconds after beginning its departure roll, sparks can be seen coming from the right main landing gear.
As the aircraft climbs away from the airport and retracts the landing gear, the right, rear wheel on the right main landing gear detaches from the aircraft and falls away. Fortunately, no one on the ground was injured. The flight continued on to London for a safe, uneventful landing at Heathrow Airport after 9 hours, 17 minutes in the air.
The Airbus A350-1000 main landing gear
The Airbus A350-1000 main landing gear features six wheels arranged in three pairs. The wheel lost by BA274 in Las Vegas was the rear-most, outside wheel on the right main landing gear.
15 Responses
It’s wild to see how something as dramatic as a wheel separation can still result in a completely routine outcome thanks to system redundancy and crew procedures. The detail about the wheel coming off during retraction really highlights how robust the A350’s landing gear design is, especially with six wheels sharing the load. Also impressive that the aircraft was able to continue a long-haul flight without any further issues.
Hope it goes in the Defect book
Truly amazing that the flight continued to LHR , a tribute to the crew and the A 350 1000 , an aircraft which I have flown on many occasions. And will again.
Could have fallen on my coupon. The staff. did not shout brace the shouted wheres the fucking wheel brace till i reach oot the windae and tighten the bloody wheel nut.
More concerning is why it fell off in the first place
More concerning is why it fell off in the first place
Thankfully no injuries. Didn’t know they had an automated live stream – great feature.
What made tham carry on with the flight to London without turning back?
Follow up please, how this could possibly happen. Did the pilots know, Im sure ATC told them , but a warning light on the dash ‘wheel missing’?
Ops check good; return to service.
Wow! Very interesting.
How was this handled? Did the cockpit crew know immediately?
Who first saw it at LAS, and did they suspend take offs and/or landings until they found the missing wheel? Where was it?
Did the passengers hear anything peculiar and were they notified at any point?
Also was the LHR landing next afternoon special in any way, with any extra precautions in the cabin, fire trucks at the threshold, etc?
No mention of why it happened!
Very interesting, does anyone know when the crew and if the passengers have been noticed/notified about the incident?
This does not make me feel comfortable. Obviously something is wrong with this airplane and it might not be limited to the one wheel! Could it have damaged the brakes? Could the fault have jammed the entire landing gear so it wouldn’t deploy at landing–like a wheel falling off inside the plane when retracted. What happens if another wheel falls off on landing near London and hits people? This is not an acceptable occurrence. Captain should have returned immediately to LAS to investigate. The choice was be an hours late and safe or potentially kill people.
Wrong choice made! Probably by BA HQ. Probably not enough experience in the cockpit.
I’ve seen reports that the tyre was retrieved at the departure airport. I haven’t heard of the wheel has been found.
This makes me wonder if it was a tyre deflation that caused it to fall off rather than the actual wheel itself. Or it might just be confused information.