Boeing 757 loses nose wheel before take-off in US

Aircraft manufacturer's chief executive says he will 'not put planes in air unless 100 per cent confident'

A Delta plane takes off in Australia. Authorities are investigating the latest incident with one of its planes in Atlanta, Georgia. Getty Images

A Delta Air Lines Boeing 757 passenger plane's nose wheel fell off and rolled away as the jet lined up for take-off, a US regulator said.

A preliminary notice from the Federal Aviation Administration said the incident occurred at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta at the weekend. None of the 184 passengers or six crew members were injured, the FAA said.

The notice said the “nose wheel came off and rolled down the hill” as the Boeing 757 was preparing for take-off.

The plane had been scheduled to go to Bogota, Colombia. Passengers were put on a replacement flight after the mishap, a Delta representative told The New York Times.

The FAA said it was investigating the incident and Boeing declined to comment to the newspaper.

Boeing already faces questions over the safety of its aircraft by regulators after a door plug on a Boeing 737 Max 9 jet blew off on an Alaska Airlines flight this month.

The FAA grounded 171 Max 9s after the incident.

The safety concerns also prompted United Airlines to consider operating its fleet without Boeing 737 Max 10 planes.

Boeing chief says company won't put planes in air unless 100% confident

Meanwhile on Wednesday, Boeing chief executive Dave Calhoun said the manufacturer will not operate its planes unless the company is fully confident in their safety.

“We don't put planes in the air that we don't have 100 per cent confidence in,” he told reporters in Washington before one of a series of meetings with US senators.

Mr Calhoun also said the company has “confidence in the safety of our aeroplanes”.

He added that he had told senators that he would be transparent in discussing the Alaska Airlines incident from earlier this month, Reuters reported.

US Senator Maria Cantwell, chairwoman of the Senate Commerce Committee, has said she intends to hold a hearing after the FAA grounded the Boeing 737 Max 9 planes.

Boeing to deliver first 737 Max to China

Despite its rough start to the year, Boeing was set to deliver its first 737 Max aircraft to China since 2019, Reuters reported, citing flight data.

A 737 Max 8 aircraft operated by China Southern Airlines departed Seattle, Washington, on Wednesday afternoon before arriving in Honolulu and later China.

The plane had not departed as of Friday afternoon, according to FlightRadar 24.

China had banned imports of the aircraft following two deadly crashes in 2018 and 2019. Beijing lifted the bans on Max planes already flying inside the country, but imports of new Max aircraft remained suspended.