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United Airlines discovered a missing exterior panel after one of its planes landed in Oregon, adding to Boeing's recent pile of mishaps.
A United spokesman said the flight that left San Francisco on the morning of March 15 landed safely at its scheduled destination in Medford, Oregon. The Independent In the current situation.
The spokesman said: “After the plane was parked at the gate, it was discovered that it did not have an external plate.” Since there was no indication of damage during the flight, the plane did not declare an emergency.
United will conduct a “thorough inspection” of the plane, a Boeing 737-800, and repair it as needed “before it returns to service.”
The airline will also launch an investigation to understand how the damage occurred, the spokesperson added.
The plane was carrying 139 passengers and six crew members. None of them were hurt.
When asked for comment, Boeing pointed instead The Independent To United.
Friday's flight is the latest in a series of recent problems for Boeing, as the aircraft company has come under intense scrutiny after a series of problems on its planes.
The January incident, in which a panel on a Boeing 737 MAX exploded mid-flight, prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to ground 170 of the same type of aircraft. The Ministry of Justice also launched a criminal investigation into this matter.
Earlier this month, a United Airlines Boeing 737 plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Texas after its engine exploded and caught fire in the air.
In another incident in March, a LATAM Airlines plane from Australia to New Zealand suddenly fell in midair after what was described as a “technical event.” The accident led to a stampede of passengers, causing many of them to collide with the roof of the plane, resulting in injuries.
As scrutiny increased, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg urged Boeing to cooperate in several investigations into the company. Boeing “has to go through a serious transformation here in terms of its responsiveness, its culture and its quality issues,” he said earlier this week.
