A United Airlines flight was found to have a missing panel after landing - as embattled Boeing faces more safety questions.
United Flight 433, from San Francisco, was carrying 145 passengers and six crew when the aircraft safely landed at the Rogue Valley International Aiport in Oregon, at around 11am on Friday. However, despite no one being injured, concerns grew once the aircraft was on the ground after a person noticed a pannel missing, United Airlines said in a statement.
The missing panel was found next to the landing gear, on the underside of the plane, as pictures on social media showed. Outgoing and incoming flights were paused at the airport to search for debris, however, none was found.
READ MORE: Boeing's week of woes - 50 injured, tyre falls off and whistleblower dead
Amber Judd, a senior official at Rogue Valley International Medford Airport, said the plane landed safely and the external panel was discovered missing during a post-flight inspection. "We'll conduct a thorough examination of the plane and perform all the needed repairs before it returns to service," she said.
An investigation would be carried out "to better better understand how this damage occurred", she added. United said it will “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 added.
For all the latest on news, politics, sports, and showbiz from the USA, go to The Mirror US
The alarming incident follows the fourth emergency involving a United Airlines flight this week after a jetliner headed to Mexico City from San Francisco made an emergency landing in Los Angeles on Friday following a hydraulics issue. The plane landed safely at Los Angeles International Airport around 4:30 p.m. and none of the 110 people on board were injured, United Airlines said in a statement.
Fire engines stood by at the airport but weren’t needed, said Nicholas Prange, a spokesperson with the Los Angeles City Fire Department. The airline said passengers can travel to Mexico on another plane expected to depart later Friday.
United said the Airbus A320 has three hydraulic systems for redundancy purposes. “Preliminary information shows there was only an issue with one system on this aircraft,” it said.
The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement it will investigate the emergency landing Friday. The emergency landing at LAX on Friday comes hours after passengers had to be evacuated from another United Airlines flight after the plane rolled off a runway and got stuck in the grass in Houston, Texas.
No injuries were reported among the 160 passengers and six crew members, United Airlines said in a statement. A video posted on social media taken after the landing in Houston showed the plane tilted to one side with one of its wings near the ground.
On Thursday, another United Airlines flight made an emergency landing in Los Angeles. It was a jetliner bound for Japan that lost a tire while taking off from San Francisco. No injuries were reported.
Video footage showed the plane losing one of the six tires on its left-side main landing gear assembly only seconds after takeoff. The tire landed in an employee parking lot at San Francisco International Airport, where it smashed into a car and shattered the back window before breaking through a fence and coming to stop in a neighbouring lot.
Earlier in the week, a United flight from Houston to Fort Myers, Texas, was forced to turn around Monday after one of the plane’s engines caught fire. Several of the 167 passengers aboard the Boeing 737 took videos showing a line of flames shooting out of the engine. No injuries were reported.