The troubles continue for United Airlines and Boeing.
After a tumultuous week with several aircraft making emergency landings, a United Airlines-operated Boeing 737-800 landed in Oregon with a missing external panel.
United Flight 433 from San Francisco to Medford, Oregon, apparently lost the fuselage panel mid-flight.
🚨Just in: United Airlines Boeing 737 lands safely in Oregon after losing panel in mid-air pic.twitter.com/tpOn5m3VXV
— The Calvin Coolidge Project (@TheCalvinCooli1) March 15, 2024
“United Flight 433 left San Francisco at 10:20 a.m. and landed at Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport in Medford shortly before noon, according to FlightAware,” ABC 7 reports.
“The airport’s director, Amber Judd, said the plane landed safely without incident and the external panel was discovered missing during a post-flight inspection,” the outlet added.
United 737 lands at Rogue Valley International Medford Airport with a missing panel from its fuselage. pic.twitter.com/Uk8DECRtP3
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Per CBS News:
It was only during a “post-landing airline inspection” that the missing panel was discovered, the FAA said. CBS News learned the missing panel is from the underside of the aircraft, just adjacent to where the main landing gear deploys.
“After the aircraft was parked at the gate, it was discovered to be missing an external panel,” United said in a statement, adding that it would conduct a “thorough examination of the plane and perform all the needed repairs before it returns to service.”
The plane was carrying 139 passengers and six crew members, United said. Airline monitoring website Flight Aware indicated the flight departed San Francisco at 10:20 a.m. and landed ahead of schedule in Medford at 11:36 a.m.
Another PDA case as United Airlines Boeing 737-824 plane (N26226) lands safely in Medford, Oregon with a belly fairing panel missing, after taking-off from San Francisco (SFO) via flight UA433 on 15 March.
United says the issue was first discovered when parked at the gate. pic.twitter.com/0bMSzMQVsY
— FL360aero (@fl360aero) March 15, 2024
ABC 7 reports:
United says it will “thoroughly examine the plane and perform repairs and conduct an investigation to know how the damage occurred.”
The Federal Aviation Administration also said it would investigate.
The missing panel was on the underside of the aircraft where the wing meets the body and just next to the landing gear, United said.
The plane made its first flight in April 1998 and was delivered to Continental Airlines in December of that year, according to the FAA. United Airlines has operated it since Nov. 30, 2011. It is a 737-824, part of the 737-800 series that was a precursor to the Max.
Boeing said, also via email, that it would defer comment to United about the carrier’s fleet and operations.
NBC Bay Area provided additional coverage:
