I Fall To Pieces...

Investigators report no one was injured... but several people around an Oakland, CA neighborhood were startled Sunday when two large metal pieces fell off a Boeing 747 flying overhead, and landed near their homes.

California Highway Patrol officer M. Williford told Bay Area television station NBC-11 one of the pieces measured two feet by four feet, with the other four feet by four feet.

Reports state both pieces came from the plane's right main landing gear doors.

Travis Air Force Base spokeswoman Lt. Lindsey Hahn said a civilian plane carrying military cargo took off around 12:15 pm Sunday, bound for Hawaii's Hickam Air Force Base. Travis officials received a call that something had fallen from the plane about 30 minutes after departure, and they then notified Oakland ARTCC.

Hahn said the Kalitta Air 747 diverted from its planned route, and landed safely at Los Angeles International just before 2 pm.

One homeowner said the sight of the metal doors outside his home caused him to do a doubletake.

"Me and my son went to the store, came back, and that's when they mentioned a door fell off a plane. I was dumbfounded there for a minute. It kind of caught me in shock," said Jeff Weber.

FAA spokesman Ian Gregor called the incident "quite rare, but not unheard of," and said the agency will investigate the matter.

This wasn't the first time a 747 flying for the Ypsilianti, MI-based cargo carrier has landed with fewer parts it took off with. In 2004, a plane flying from O'Hare to JFK lost its entire number one engine nacelle somewhere over Lake Michigan.

FMI: www.faa.gov, www.kalittaair.com