_ Horrifying moment wheel falls off Boeing 737 forcing an emergency landing in South Africa a month after similar incident on United Airlines flight in San Francisco: Comes days after whistleblower said plane maker was playing 'Russian Roulette'

Another near-disaster involving a Boeing 737 was avoided over the weekend, this time in South Africa, when a jet lost a wheel shortly after take off, forcing the captain into an emergency landing. 

This incident comes amid turmoil for Boeing in the wake of whistleblower Sam Salehpour's testimony before Congress last week in which he accused the company of playing 'Russian roulette' with people's lives. 

Boeing has denied Salehpour's statements and has sought to allay public fears in the wake of incidents such as the loss of a door plug on board a flight in January and the loss of a wheel on a United Airlines flight out of San Francisco in March. 

The company says claims about the 787's structural integrity are false. 

Two Boeing engineering execs said this week that in both design testing and inspections of planes - some of them 12 years old - there have been no findings of fatigue or cracking in the composite panels.

Safety staff at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa, noticed the FlySafair aircraft had damaged its undercarriage on take off on 21st April.

After being ordered back, the pilots made a low pass over the runway so engineers could inspect the damage.

They found one of four rear wheels had been clipped during takeoff and ordered the plane down. But video footage of the landing shows the wheel disintegrating as the plane tried to taxi down the runway.

The clip shows flight FA212 with smoke billowing from the damaged wheel.

Seconds later there was a huge bang and parts of the wheel flew off as the undercarriage collapsed sending the jet leaning sideways towards its port (left) wing as it ground to a halt towards the end of the footage.

Miraculously no one was injured in the drama, reported local media, and passengers were evacuated and offered another flight.

Kirby Gordon, Chief Marketing Officer at FlySafair, said after the incident: 'After take-off, ground staff at OR Tambo reported witnessing what appeared to be damage to one of the aircraft back wheels.

'The crew were alerted to the observation and the decision was taken to return to Johannesburg.'

The aircraft then entered a holding pattern to burn off fuel for a safer landing.

 Gordon said: 'This is standard procedure when there is no urgency to land, as it's safer to land with a lighter fuel load, and modern Boeing 737 aircraft do not have the facility to dump fuel.'

Before landing, the plane made a low pass over the airport so technical teams could visually inspect the landing gear, the airline said.

Gordon added: 'The aircraft passed overhead at approximately 13:20, and observers confirmed that one of the four rear wheels had come adrift during the take-off roll.

'The wheel affected was one of the two attached to the left rear landing strut.

'Response vehicles were activated to greet the plane as a precautionary measure.

'After landing, the aircraft was inspected by safety and engineering teams on the runway before the plane was brought back to the terminal.'

Regional General Manager Jabulani Khambule said: 'We would like to praise the FlySafair pilots and crew for their professional handling of this emergency.

'Their training and experience ensured that all passengers on board the plane walked away unscathed.'

The incident comes amid a series of recent accidents involving the troubled 737 plane raising safety questions among worried passengers. 

In March, whistleblower John Barnett was found dead in his truck in South Carolina while going throwing a whistleblowing suit against his former employer. 

The 62-year-old alleged that under-pressure workers were deliberately fitting sub-standard parts to aircraft while on the assembly line.

Barnett had alleged that second-rate parts were literally removed from scrap bins, before being fitted to planes that were being built to prevent delays.

A 2017 review by the FAA upheld some of his concerns, requiring Boeing to take action.

He had just given a deposition to Boeing's lawyers for the case the week before his death, his attorney Brian Knowles said.

Barnett's job for 32 years was overseeing production standards for the firm's planes - standards he said were not met during his four years at the then-new plant in Charleston from 2010 to 2014. 

Barnett claimed he alerted superiors at the plant about his misgivings, but no action was ever taken. Boeing denied this, as well as his claims. 

(Fluierul)