A United Airlines Boeing 737 lost an external panel while it was in the air between San Francisco and Oregon on Friday with the airline crew only discovering the part was missing after the plane landed.
The Boeing 737-800 — which departed around 10:40 a.m. as United Airlines flight 433 carrying 139 passengers and six crew members — landed safely over an hour later at Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport, the New York Post reported. Airport Director Amber Judd told the outlet that after one of the plane’s external panels was found to be missing, the airport’s operations were temporarily halted as it conducted a safety check on the runway.
“After finding no debris on the airfield, normal operations at MFR resumed a few minutes later,” Judd said.
While in flight, there was no indication that the plane had any problem or emergency, the airline said. The plane, which is 25 years old, will undergo a “thorough examination,” according to United, which added that it will “perform all the needed repairs before it returns to service” and “conduct an investigation to better understand how this damage occurred.”
🚨#Breaking: United Airlines Boeing 737 loses panel mid-flight after takeoff from San Francisco, diverts to Oregon airport. Plane lands safely, no injuries reported.#Boeing pic.twitter.com/MgmnLaUn5v
— World News Global (@WorldNewsGb) March 15, 2024
The Federal Aviation Administration also said it will investigate the incident.
The latest mid-air incident comes amid a string of mishaps involving Boeing aircraft. Last week, a tire fell off a United Airlines Boeing 777-200 as it was taking off. The tire damaged multiple cars in a parking lot, but no one was injured.
here is video of a tire falling off a united flight today at SFO
this comes one month after a wheel fell off a Delta plane in atlanta just prior to takeoff pic.twitter.com/OrednBxQ7g
— Gregg Re (@gregg_re) March 7, 2024
Days earlier, a United flight from Houston to Fort Myers, Florida, was forced to turn around after one of its engines burst into flames.
The FAA is investigating a mechanical issue on a United Airlines flight that caused flames to shoot from the rear of an engine minutes after takeoff on Monday. https://t.co/jrwnIglEGT pic.twitter.com/8VoCBoDHfk
— ABC News (@ABC) March 7, 2024
In January, a door plug fell off of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max minutes after it had taken off from Portland, forcing the plane to make an emergency landing. NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy testified before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation last week, saying that Boeing was refusing to tell investigators the names of people on a 25-member team that worked on a door plug that came off the Alaska Airlines plane.
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“Boeing has not provided us with the documents and information that we have requested numerous times over the past few months, specifically with respect to opening, closing, and removal of the door,” the NTSB chair said.
“It’s absurd that two months later we don’t have that,” she added. “Without that information, that raises concerns about quality assurance, quality management, [and] safety management systems.”
Boeing told ABC News that it has “worked proactively and transparently” to support the NTSB investigation.
“Early in the investigation, we provided the NTSB with names of Boeing employees, including door specialists, who we believed would have relevant information,” Boeing said. “We have now provided the full list of individuals on the 737 door team, in response to a recent request. With respect to documentation, if the door plug removal was undocumented there would be no documentation to share.”
