Updated 01.20 | Published 01.13
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full screen A United Airlines aircraft lost an aircraft part during a flight between San Francisco and Medford. The plan in the picture has nothing to do with the event. Archive image. Photo: David Zalubowski/AP/TT
An airplane of the type Boeing 737-800 belonging to the American company United Airlines was missing an outer panel when it landed after a flight between San Francisco and Medford on Friday evening, Swedish time.
The plane landed safely and the discovery was made during a post-flight inspection, Medford airport officials told the AP. No rubble has been found on the airport’s airstrip.
The missing panel was on the underside near where the landing gear is deployed, according to the airline.
The incident is one of several serious safety incidents that have hit planes from the aircraft manufacturer Boeing in recent times.
Federal prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into an incident in January when a door plug on an Alaska Airlines plane came loose, leaving a large hole in the plane thousands of feet up. Things were sucked out of the hole and the plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Portland. No one was hurt, the door plug was later found in a villa garden.