United Airlines operated Boeing 737 lands safely with missing panel

United Airlines has announced after one of its Boeing 737 passenger jets landed in Oregon, US it was discovered one of its external panels was missing.

The airline said on Friday (15 March) the Boeing 737-800 aircraft landed safely at its scheduled destination at Rogue Valley International Medford Airport in Oregon despite missing the part.

In a statement it said the discovery was made after the aircraft was parked at the gate and confirmed that the 139 passengers and six crew members who had been on board were all safe.

The airline said: “We’ll conduct a thorough examination of the plane and perform all the needed repairs before it returns to service”, adding it will also “investigate to understand the cause of the incident on flight 433”.

Jackson County Airport Director Amber Judd said the flight had originated from San Francisco and no injuries were reported, MailOnline reports.

The plane had departed from San Francisco, according to flight tracking website FlightRadar24.

It comes after last week a United Airlines-operated Boeing 737 MAX rolled onto the grass and off the runway at George Bush Airport in Houston.

The incident was being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration.

Boeing has been under heavy regulatory scrutiny following a Jan. 5 Alaska Airlines mid-air panel blowout, with probes into the company’s safety and quality standards in its production process.

Boeing earlier today told airlines to inspect switches on pilots’ seats in its 787 Dreamliner jets after a published report said an accidental cockpit seat movement likely caused the sudden plunge of a LATAM Airlines plane flying to New Zealand.

Boeing said on Friday it recommended that airlines inspect the cockpit seats the next time they perform maintenance on their 787s. The aircraft manufacturer pointed to instructions that include how to disable motors that move the seats.

The company described its advisory as a “precautionary measure”. It noted that the investigation into what happened during Monday’s LATAM Airlines flight between Australia and New Zealand was continuing and referred questions about potential findings to investigating authorities.

LATAM Airlines initially said there was “a technical event during the flight which caused a strong movement”. In an update on Tuesday, the airline said the plane “experienced a strong shake during flight, the cause of which is currently under investigation”.

Passengers reported that when the Dreamliner dropped without warning, people not wearing seatbelts were tossed from their seats and into the cabin ceiling and aisles. The plane later landed at Auckland Airport as scheduled.

About 50 people were injured, according to emergency crews in Auckland. The 787 is a two-aisle plane used mostly for long international flights.

The Wall Street Journal reported late on Thursday that a flight attendant serving a meal in the cockpit hit a switch on the back of a seat that pushed the pilot into controls on the 787, pushing down the nose of the plane.

The newspaper cited anonymous US industry officials who were briefed on preliminary findings from the investigation.

The incident could ratchet up scrutiny of Boeing, which is already at a high level since a panel blew out of an Alaska Airlines 737 Max over Oregon in January.

After the blow out, the airlines announced it found loose bolts on multiple 737 Max 9 aircraft.

United found issues related to the installation of several panels that were being inspected following the accident, it said in a statement.

Dozens of Max 9 planes were grounded following the incident, pending inspection which deemed they are safe to fly.

Additional reporting by Reuters.