On Friday, 15 March, yet another Boeing plane lost a panel mid-flight. It was only discovered that the piece was missing after the plane landed at its destination.
United Airlines flight 433, operated on a Boeing 737-800, departed from San Francisco around 10:20 am local time, with 139 passengers and 6 crew members on board. The approximately 70-minute-long flight went seemingly well, with no disturbances or emergencies reported while the plane was in the air.
The plane landed safely at its intended destination at the Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport, in Oregon, at 11:36 am. After landing, the plane was found to be missing a panel. The airport shut off the runway for a short period of time to inspect its state and ensure the panel had not fallen somewhere on the tarmac during landing.
“This afternoon United flight 433 landed safely at its scheduled destination at Rogue Valley International/Medford Airport. After the aircraft was parked at the gate, it was discovered to be missing an external panel”, United Airlines said in a statement. 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.”
The airline also clarified that the panel was a wing-to-body fairing, a part is located on the underside of the aircraft where the wing is connected to the aircraft body. The panel sits just adjacent to where the landing gear deploys, and serves as a protective shell between the wing and the fuselage.
The plane was supposed to take off for Denver on Friday afternoon, but the flight was postponed as a new aircraft needed to be deployed to Medford for flight while all checks are being carried out on the 737. The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Jackson County Airport Authority have also launched investigations into the incident.
Meanwhile, the authority’s director, Amber Judd, has clarified that, unlike other Boeing incidents this year, the aircraft was neither a 737 Max, nor new, as the plane has been in service for 25 years.
On 5 January, a plug-in door blew out mid-air on a Boeing 737 Max 9 during an Alaska Airlines flight. The FAA subsequently grounded the aircraft and launched an investigation into the incident. In the follow-up investigation, it has been revealed that Alaska Airlines pilots had flagged depressurisation problems on previous flights operated on the same plane, which had been ignored. More worryingly, the FAA has found loose bolts and even misdrilled holes in some aircraft’s fuselage. In the last update, the FAA gave Boeing 90 days to “must develop a comprehensive action plan to address its systemic quality-control issues to meet FAA’s non-negotiable safety standards.”
Meanwhile other Boeing models have also been facing problems. The windshield of a 777 cracked on 28 February and earlier this year, the nose wheel of a 757 just fell off and rolled down the runway at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Yet another wheel fell off a 777-200 on 7 March, damaging several cars in San Francisco. On 4 March, the engine of a 737 burst into flames only minutes after take-off and, on the morning of 11 March, a Latam Airlines flight operated on a 787-9 Dreamliner suddenly lost altitude about one hour before reaching its destination, sending passengers flying through the cabin.
