A United Airlines flight that took off from San Francisco International Airport on Friday morning landed in Oregon missing an exterior panel, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
The missing panel was discovered after the plane, a Boeing 737-800, landed safely at its scheduled destination at Rogue Valley International Medford Airport in Oregon and parked at a gate, United Airlines said in a statement. It was unclear when and how the plaque disappeared.
According to the airline, there was no evidence of damage to the aircraft during the flight and the plane did not report an emergency en route to Medford Airport.
“We will conduct a thorough examination of the aircraft and carry out any necessary repairs before returning it to service,” the airline said. “We will also conduct an investigation to better understand how this damage occurred.”
United Airlines said the plane was carrying 139 passengers and a crew of six. No injuries were reported.
According to Airfleets.net, a website that tracks aircraft information, the plane has been in service for more than 25 years and came from an earlier generation of 737 aircraft.
The airport briefly paused operations to inspect the runway and resumed flights after no debris was found at the airfield, Medford Airport Director Amber Judd said in an email.
Boeing referred questions about the flight to United Airlines. The FAA said it plans to investigate the incident.
Friday’s discovery of the missing panel came as Boeing has faced intense scrutiny in recent weeks after a door-sized piece of a Boeing 737 Max 9 Alaska Airlines flight was found in January just minutes after takeoff from Portland, Oregon , was blown away. There were no major injuries during the flight, but the frightening incident, which was captured on video, prompted government officials to look into quality control at Boeing.
After the January flight, the FAA began a six-week review of Boeing, which found “multiple instances” in which the plane maker had failed to meet quality control requirements.
Since then, there have been a number of problems with flights on Boeing aircraft.
According to the FAA, on March 8, a United Airlines plane landing at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston taxied into the grass as the plane, a Boeing 737, exited onto the taxiway
In February, an American Airlines flight to Madrid, a Boeing 777, was diverted to Boston Logan International Airport shortly after departure from New York’s Kennedy International Airport with a cracked windshield.
Source link
2024-03-16 03:22:58
www.nytimes.com
