Wheel falls off Dreamlifter

Footage has emerged of a wheel falling off a Boeing 747 Dreamlifter as it departed an Italian Airport.

ATLAS AIR BOEING 747-4H6 (LCF) N718BA (MSN 27042)

The aircraft was heading from Taranto- Grottag Airport (TAR/LIBG) to Charleston International Airport, SC (CHS/KCHS). Flight 5Y4231, with the callsign Giant 4231, departed from Taranto's runway 35 at 9.09am (local time) then 10 hours 6 minutes later it landed safely in Charleston on runway 15 at 14.15 (local time)

The video, shared on social media, shows a normal-looking take-off, followed by the plane launching into the sky. A few seconds later, a trail of black smoke emerges before one of its left rear landing gear falls back to earth, bouncing along the runway. The Dreamlifter has 18 wheels and each one of them weighing more than 100 kilograms.

The Dreamlifter is a super-sized 747, designed to transport Boeing 787 Dreamliner parts between the United States, Japan and Italy - hence the name Dreamlifter. It can hold roughly three times the load of the 747-400F.

The fleet of four Dreamlifter's are operated by Atlas Air, a cargo airline, on behalf of Boeing.

Aircraft Information:

Airline: Boeing

Code: BOE

Operator: Atlas Air

Code: 5Y/GTI

Aircraft: Boeing 747-4H6 (LCF)

Registration: N718BA

Serial Number: 27042

Engines: 4 x PW PW4056

First Flew: 11/08/1992

Age: 30 Yrs. 2 Mts.

Aircraft History

27/08/1992 Malaysia Airlines as 9M-MPA (Stored at SZB 06/2006) 
01/09/2007 Boeing Dreamlifter as N718BA