A United Airlines Boeing jet lost a main landing gear wheel on Monday while taking off from Los Angeles.

The Boeing 757-200 was carrying 174 passengers and 7 crewmembers when it took off from LAX.

The plane continued safely on to Denver where it landed safely, the airline said. 

There were no reported injuries on the ground or on board Flight 1001, United said in a statement.

'The wheel has been recovered in Los Angeles, and we are investigating what caused this event,' the statement said.

The incident is strikingly similar to one that occurred in March when a United Boeing B777-200 jet lost a tire this time after takeoff from San Francisco.

It landed on a car in an airport employee parking lot. 

It comes just one day after the company announced it plansto plead guilty to fraud in connection with approval of its 737 Max before two of the planes crashed, killing 346 people off the coast of Indonesia and in Ethiopia.

The American aerospace giant has apparently made the calculation that admitting to a crime is better than fighting the charge and enduring a long public trial. 

In a legal filing late Sunday - minutes before a midnight deadline - the Justice Department disclosed the agreement and said the fraud charge was 'the most serious readily provable offense' it could bring against Boeing. 

Prosecutors say Boeing will pay another $243.6 million fine, matching a fine it paid in 2021 for the same crime.

The Justice Department says a conviction for fraud will hold Boeing accountable for 'misstatements' it made to regulators who certified the 737 Max in 2017.  

The crashes took place less than five months apart in 2018 and 2019.

The company still faces investigations into the blowout of a panel from an Alaska Airlines Max plane in January, increased oversight by the Federal Aviation Administration, and accusations from current and former employees about poor workmanship and retaliation against whistleblowers.

Boeing's plea deal would bring the total to $487.2 million, which the Justice Department says is the legal maximum for the fraud charge. 

The deal also requires the company to invest at least $455 million to improve safety. 

It will be on court-supervised probation for three years, and the Justice Department will name an independent monitor to oversee Boeing's compliance with terms of the plea agreement.

Boeing's board of directors will also be required to meet with families of the victims.

Boeing's business has never fully recovered from the crashes. 

After the renewed scrutiny that followed the Alaska Airlines incident, the company failed to book any new orders for the Max in April and May. 

It has fallen even farther behind European rival Airbus in production and deliveries of new planes, which means less revenue is coming in.

All of this is happening while Boeing looks for a new CEO to replace David Calhoun, who says he will step down at the end of the year.