A Boeing aircraft landed safely in Oregon with a missing external panel, the latest in a series of mishaps involving the company’s planes.
United Flight 433 from San Francisco to Medford completed the journey Friday with no other reported issues, according to airport officials.
However, ground workers inspecting the older Boeing 737-800 series plane found the panel missing during a post-flight inspection.
“After the aircraft was parked at the gate, it was discovered to be missing an external panel,” a United spokesperson said. “We’ll conduct a thorough examination of the plane and perform all the needed repairs before it returns to service.”
Medford airport director Amber Judd said the airport briefly paused to check the runway and airfield for debris but found none.
There was no indication of any damage during the flight, so no emergency was declared, according to United.
Multiple Boeing planes have had high-profile mishaps in recent months. In January, a door plug blew out on an Alaska Airlines flight while it was 16,000 feet in the air, forcing the pilots to turn the plane around.
Then in mid-March, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner went into a sudden nosedive on a flight from Sydney, Australia to Auckland, New Zealand, injuring several passengers.
With News Wire Services
