The FAA is investigating how a United Airlines Boeing 737-800 could lose an external panel on a flight to Oregon. United Flight 433 from San Francisco landed at Medford airport at approximately 1:45 p.m. on Friday, carrying 139 passengers and 6 crew members. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, it was only upon inspection by the airline after landing of the 25-year-old aircraft that it came to light that an external panel was missing. United said it would investigate further. Boeing declined to comment and referred questions to United Airlines, The Guardian reports. The aircraft was built at the end of 1998. A local newspaper posted a photo of the plane with the missing panel. Air traffic at the airport was briefly halted to search for it. Recently, there have been many incidents involving Boeing aircraft. In early January, an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 lost part of its fuselage the size of a refrigerator. This was a ‘plug door’, a part of the fuselage that the manufacturer can set instead of an emergency exit, depending on the configuration requested by an airline. The aircraft was still fairly new. Boeing has been under strict surveillance since the Jan. 5 incident. Investigations are underway into the safety and quality standards in the aircraft manufacturer’s production process. Last week, a United Airlines Boeing 737 MAX rolled off the runway in Houston. This is also being investigated. Earlier, a United Airlines Boeing 777-200 en route to Japan lost a tire after taking off from San Francisco. The aircraft was diverted to Los Angeles, where it landed safely. Photo: a United Airlines Boeing 737-800 (Photo: Shutterstock).
