Airliner's landing doors fall off en route to isles
Associated Press
CORDELIA, Calif. » An Oahu-bound civilian jumbo jet flew to Los Angeles a little bit lighter Sunday when pieces of the plane crashed down in a residential neighborhood after taking off from Travis Air Force Base.
Authorities began receiving phone calls shortly after the Boeing 747 took off from the Fairfield base around noon.
"As it was flying away, people saw something fall off the plane and reported it," said Lt. Lindsey Hahn, a spokeswoman for the base.
Fairfield police and California Highway Patrol officers found what appeared to be two landing gear bay doors covered in hydraulic fluid in a driveway. The loss of the 4-by-8-foot white metal pieces labeled "747" forced the plane, originally headed for Hickam Air Force Base on Oahu, to divert its path to Los Angeles International Airport, where it landed without incident.
"The FAA will inspect the door and the plane and will determine if the door does belong to the plane," Hahn said.
No injuries were reported.