Boeing is back under the microscope as the U.S. FAA is investigating how an external panel flew off a 25-year-old 737-800 during a flight in the western United States.
Multiple reports say United flight 433 landed at the Medford, Oregon airport on the afternoon of 15MAR after departing from SFO. The plane was carrying 139 passengers and six crew.
No emergency was declared mid-flight as the problem wasn’t discovered until a post-flight inspection took place.
It’s a different problem and a different plan from the Alaska Airlines jet that lost a door plug on a flight over Oregon, but it serves to train the spotlight once again on troubled Boeing.
Fifty people were injured this week when a Boeing 787 Dreamliner dropped suddenly during
a Latam Airlines flight between New Zealand and Australia. The Wall Street Journal says a flight attendant accidentally hit a switch on the pilot's seat, which pushed the pilot into the controls and forced the plane’s nose down.
Boeing has since told airlines that operate 787 Dreamliners that they need to have pilot seats checked.
Boeing has been under severe scrutiny since the Alaska Airlines door plug incident on 5JAN. Critics have strongly questioned the company’s quality and safety standards.
United said it will investigate the latest incident.
“After the aircraft was parked at the gate, it was discovered to be missing an external panel," a United spokesperson told Associated Press. "We'll conduct a thorough examination of the plane and perform all the needed repairs before it returns to service. We'll also conduct an investigation to better understand how this damage occurred."
AP quoted United officials as saying the missing panel on the flight out of SFO was on the underside of the aircraft where the wing meets the body and just next to the landing gear.
In an email to Open Jaw, Air Canada said it doesn’t have any of the Boeing 737-800 models in its fleet.
“As for the Boeing 787 Dreamliners, those in our fleet are inspected regularly as part of this fleet's routine maintenance program, which includes the seats in question,” a spokesperson said.
