United Airlines crew finds panel missing on Boeing 737 plane after landing – National | 24CA News
A Boeing 737-800 plane operated by United Airlines flew Friday with a big a part of its exterior lacking, based on the airline, marking the newest in a collection of malfunctions to plague the producer.
The flight from San Francisco to Oregon landed safely, however upon arrival crews found a damaged exterior panel on the 25-year-old plane.
According to an announcement from United Airlines, no emergency had been declared and the lacking piece was not found till all 139 passengers and 6 crew members safely disembarked from the airplane.
“We’ll conduct a thorough examination of the plane and perform all the needed repairs before it returns to service,” the airline stated.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) says it has launched an investigation into the incident. It marks the seventh reported incident involving a Boeing airplane simply this week.
Despite vacationers’ rising fears of flying with Boeing, aviation knowledgeable Richard Levy says this newest incident will not be a priority.
“The airplane did not just come out of the Boeing factory. It was an older aircraft. The airplane landed safely. Yes, it’s going to be an investigation because of the recent news with Boeing. But as far as safety, this does not concern me whatsoever,” stated Levy, who can be a former industrial pilot.
According to FAA information, the Boeing plane Friday was inbuilt late 1998.
Boeing has been dealing with intense scrutiny over the standard of its aircrafts after an Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 was pressured to make an emergency touchdown on Jan. 5, when a panel known as a door plug blew out of the aspect of the airplane shortly after takeoff from Portland, Oregon.
Three passengers who have been on board the flight have since sued the airline and Boeing, claiming the incident was brought on by negligence.
Levy notes that the Boeing plane utilized by United Airlines was not a ‘Max’, which is the mannequin related to the Alaska Airlines incident and most beneath probe.
“Boeing makes great airplanes. We know that Boeing is under the spotlight right now… but would you also believe that Airbus has issues? Not daily, but almost every day,” Levy informed Global News.
Airbus is one other main plane manufacturing firm with planes generally operated by Air Canada.
Levy says he would have “zero hesitation” flying together with his spouse on any Boeing mannequin, together with the 737, 777, Max 8 or 9.
“I flew these Boeing airplanes 41 years, had a great time flying them, and I had really no engine shutdowns,” Levy stated.
Since the January incident, Boeing has incessantly made headlines for seemingly unrelated security and high quality points.
Earlier this March, a tire fell off a Boeing jetliner shortly after takeoff at San Francisco International Airport, breaking by way of a fence in a parking zone under and smashing into vehicles.
Also in January, the nostril wheel of a Delta Air Lines Boeing 757 passenger jet fell off and rolled away because the plane waited on the runway for takeoff clearance at Georgia’s Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
On Monday, a minimum of 50 individuals have been injured after a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner dropped abruptly in what LATAM Airlines described as a “strong movement” mid-air.
The FAA launched an investigation into Boeing in March 2023, nearly a yr earlier than the Alaska Airlines incident, following deadly crashes of Boeing 787 MAX-8 planes flown by Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines in 2018.
The report concluded in February that Boeing is not as dedicated to security because it says it’s. It stated the FAA “observed documentation, survey responses, and employee interviews that did not provide objective evidence of a foundational commitment to safety that matched Boeing’s descriptions of that objective.”
A couple of weeks early, FAA head Michael Whitaker informed informed U.S. lawmakers that Boeing’s oversight system “is not working.”
“I certainly agree the current system is not working because it’s not delivering safe aircraft, so we have to make changes to that,” he stated.
Regarding the newest incident Friday, Levy says the general public shouldn’t hesitate to journey on a Boeing plane.
“Boeing will be producing more and more airplanes that are going to be good airplanes, safe airplanes,” he stated.
–with information from Global News’ Nathanial Dove
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