A section of a United Airlines plane was discovered missing during an inspection Friday afternoon in southern Oregon, adding to a growing list of mishaps for the airline.
United Airlines Flight 433 took off from San Francisco and successfully landed 90 minutes later at Rogue Valley International Airport in Medford, Oregon, at 11:53 am.
Airport staff noticed that a “piece was missing from the bottom of the plane,” a Boeing 737-800, during a routine post-flight inspection, airport director Amber Judd told The Times.
“Our operations at the airport were briefly halted so we could conduct a runway safety check for debris,” Judd said. “We do not find anything”.
Judd said the plane landed safely and all 139 passengers and six crew members exited safely.
The flight was scheduled to continue to Denver, but was initially delayed 3 hours and 35 minutes before finally being cancelled.
“My understanding is that most passengers were aware of the delay and the circumstances, although there were probably some who were unaware,” Judd said.
United Airlines in a statement Friday said the plane's crew did not declare an emergency to airport staff because “there was no indication of damage during the flight.”
“After the aircraft was parked at the gate, it was discovered that it was missing a panel,” United's statement said. “We will conduct a thorough examination of the aircraft and make all necessary repairs before it returns to service.”
The airlines also said they would conduct an investigation.
Judd said the plane was an older 737-8 and not one of the Boeing Max planes that came under scrutiny in January after a door panel exploded. Alaska Airlines flight which left Portland, Oregon.
However, four Boeing planes operated by United have suffered incidents in the past two weeks.
A Boeing spokesperson referred all questions to United Airlines about the airline's fleet and operations.
On Monday, a United Airlines flight bound for San Francisco turned around two hours after taking off from Sydney. The Boeing 777-300 plane returned due to a maintenance problem.
Before that, a Boeing 777-200 operated by United Airlines made an emergency landing in Los Angeles after a tire fell off on March 7.
There was also an emergency landing in Houston on March 4 after flames were detected coming from a United Airlines Boeing 737-900ER. Boeing confirmed that the engine ingested bubble wrap.
Four days later, a Boeing 737-8 Max rolled onto the grass near a runway in Houston upon landing, although no passengers were injured.
United emphasized that there were no injuries in any of these incidents.
“We take every security event seriously and will investigate each of the incidents that occurred this month to understand what happened and learn from them,” United's statement said. “Much of this work is being done in conjunction with manufacturers, the FAA and NTSB, as well as individual component manufacturers.”
