The Guardian reports that the United flight 433 landed at Medford airport at about 1.45 pm on Friday carrying 139 passengers and six crew after departing from San Francisco, the FAA and airline said.
The US Federal Aviation Administration is investigating how a United Airlines Boeing 737-800 lost an external panel before landing safely in Oregon.
The FAA said a post-landing airline inspection of the 25-year-old plane revealed a missing panel. United said it would also investigate. It said no emergency had been declared because there was no indication of the damage during flight.
“We’ll conduct a thorough examination of the plane and perform all the needed repairs before it returns to service,” the airline said.
Boeing did not comment, directing questions to United Airlines.
FAA records show the plane was built in late 1998. The Rogue Valley Times posted a photo of the plane with the missing panel. Traffic was briefly halted at the airport to search for it.
US flight incidents are getting more attention after a door plug blew off an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 in mid-air. Boeing has been under heavy regulatory scrutiny since the 5 January incident, with investigations underway into the company’s safety and quality standards in its production process.
Last week a United Airlines-operated Boeing 737 MAX rolled off the runway in Houston, prompting investigations; and a United-operated Boeing 777-200 bound for Japan lost a tyre after takeoff from San Francisco and was diverted to Los Angeles where it landed safely.
Before that, another Boeing jet was forced to make an emergency landing in LAX after taking off from San Francisco due to hydraulic issues.
A United Boeing 737 bound for Florida from Houston on 4 March returned to the airport shortly after takeoff because the engine had taken in plastic bubble wrap that was on the airfield before departure. Social media posts showed flames coming out of the engine.
Last week, it was reported that American Airlines Boeing 777 carrying 249 people was forced to make an emergency landing at LAX after a 'mechanical problem'.
Flight AA 345 was arriving from Dallas Fort Worth and landed in Los Angeles around 8.45 pm local time Wednesday, according to Mail Online.
The aircraft taxied along the runway and all passengers and crew onboard were able to disembark using a jet bridge.
Initial rumours suggested that the issue was a blown-out tyre, according to KTLA.
This latest setback for the beleaguered airplane building behemoth following a slew of safety issues, emergency landings and near-fatal incidents.
Those problems became further magnified following the mysterious suicide of John Barnett, 62, recently. Barnett was a former quality manager at the company's North Charleston plant. He died following a 'self-inflicted' gunshot, police said.
Flight AA 345 was arriving from Dallas Fort Worth and landed in Los Angeles around 8.45 pm.
In response to a federal audit, Boeing said Tuesday that it would work with employees found to have violated company manufacturing procedures to make sure they understand instructions for their jobs.
The aircraft maker detailed its latest steps to correct lapses in quality in a memo to employees from Stan Deal, president of Boeing’s commercial plane division.
The memo went out after the Federal Aviation Administration finished a six-week review of the company’s manufacturing processes for the 737 Max jetliner after a panel blew off during Alaska Airlines flight on January 5.
The FAA reviewed 89 aspects of production at Boeing’s plant in Renton, Washington, and found the company failed 33 of them, according to a person familiar with the report.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details that had not been publicly released – although they were reported earlier by The New York Times.