United Airlines Boeing 737, filled with 139 passengers, loses external panel mid-air

A Boeing 737-800, being operated by United Airlines, lost its external panel mid-air on Friday (Mar 15), adding to the list of issues which have been raising concerns over the manufacturing of the planes.

As per the officials, they were able to discover the loss of the external panel only after the plane landed safely at an Oregon airport.

United Airlines Flight 433 had taken off from San Francisco around 10:20 a.m. local time and was also able to land safely at Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport about 70 minutes later, as per the airport officials and flight data.

In a statement to the New York Post, airport director Amber Judd said that once the plane came close to the gate, the officials found an external panel missing.

After the external panel was found missing, the operations were halted at the airport while the officials conducted a runway safety check, said airport director Amber Judd, while speaking to The New York Post.

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According to United Airlines, the plane did not give any indication of any kind of problem and no emergency was declared when the flight was mid-air, while there were 139 passengers and six crew members on board, as per the United Airlines.

“After finding no debris on the airfield, normal operations at MFR resumed a few minutes later,” she added.

United Airlines ensures “thorough examination”

United Airlines clarified that they have plans to carry out a “thorough examination” of the 25-year-old plane and they will “perform all the needed repairs before it returns to service.”

“We’ll also conduct an investigation to better understand how this damage occurred,” the airline said. A spokesperson said that the Federal Aviation Administration will further investigate the incident.

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This is the seventh incident of frightening mid-air mishap reported which involved a Boeing plane in the last two weeks.

American Airlines Boeing aircraft on Thursday (Mar 14) was forced to make an emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport over a “possible mechanical issue”.

Another United Airlines Flight, which was headed from Sydney to San Francisco, was forced to make a U-turn because of a hydraulic leak on Monday (Mar 11).