VALLEY ROUNDUP : Burbank : Airliner Loses a Tire, Makes Unplanned Landing

A Southwest Airlines jet lost one of its tires Thursday afternoon shortly after takeoff from Burbank Airport, officials said. Flight 253, bound for Sacramento with 127 passengers aboard, was diverted to Ontario Airport where it landed without incident.

The tire was one of two on the left rear side of the aircraft, said airline spokeswoman Sonja O’Neil. “We still had one good tire there for the landing,” she said.

The falling tire struck and dented a United Airlines mechanical luggage loader on the ground, O’Neil said. No one was injured either on board the jet or on the ground, she said.

The passengers were flown from Ontario to Sacramento on another Southwest Airlines jet. A Federal Aviation Administration official said the agency was investigating the incident.