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The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will investigate how a United Airlines (NASDAQ:UAL) Boeing (NYSE: BA) The 737-800 plane lost an exterior panel before landing safely in Oregon on Friday.
United Airlines Flight 433, a Boeing 737-800 carrying 139 passengers and six crew members, landed safely Friday to its scheduled destination at Rogue Valley Medford International Airport in Oregon, after departing from San Francisco, the FAA and the airline said.
The FAA said a post-landing inspection revealed a missing panel and that it would investigate the crash.
“After the plane was parked at the gate, it was discovered that an exterior panel was missing,” United Airlines (UAL) told Seeking Alpha in an email statement, adding that the plane had not called in case emergency response to the Medford airport “as there was no indication of damage there during the flight.”
“We will conduct a thorough examination of the aircraft and perform any necessary repairs before it returns to service. We will also conduct an investigation to better understand how this damage occurred,” United Airlines (UAL) added.
Boeing (BA) declined to comment, referring questions to United Airlines (UAL) “for information on their fleet and operations.” According to data from the Aviation Voli group, the plane was 25 years and three months old, having been built in December 1998.
Boeing (BA) has been in the spotlight amid the ongoing fallout from an incident involving a broken door plug on an Alaska Airlines (ALK) flight in early January. Since that event, the major aircraft manufacturer’s shares have taken a hit, while subsequent plane crashes have come under intense scrutiny.