United plane loses tires on takeoff at LAX; man tasered in separate airport incident

Tire incident was the second in four months, plane landed safely

Early Saturday morning, a shirtless and barefoot man suffering from a mental health crisis caused a disturbance at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Airport police responded to the situation, with one officer firing a taser at the man.

The incident was captured on video and is now being investigated by the department. The man, whose identity has not been released, was subsequently assaulted, arrested for assault on an officer and taken to the hospital for a psychiatric evaluation.

In another incident Monday morning, a United Airlines 757 lost a main landing gear tire during takeoff from LAX. No injuries were reported, according to a United statement. A pilot on an Allegiant flight waiting on the runway for takeoff alerted air traffic control after observing the tire as the United 757 took off.

The United flight continued on to Denver and landed without incident. “The wheel was recovered in Los Angeles and we are investigating what caused this incident,” the airline said. This is the second time in four months that a United flight has lost a wheel during takeoff. The previous plane lost a wheel during a flight from San Francisco International Airport to Osaka, Japan. The flight was diverted and landed at LAX in March after the tire landed in an employee parking lot and crashed into cars.