United Airlines Boeing plane lands without external panel

An external panel was found to be missing from a Boeing United Airlines flight after it landed in southern Oregon on Friday.

United Flight 433, which departed from San Francisco at 10:20 a.m., landed in Medford, Ore., just before noon. The external panel was determined to be missing from the underside of the Boeing 737-800 aircraft after it was parked at the gate at Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport, according to United Airlines.

The aircraft, which was carrying 139 passengers and six crew members, did not declare an emergency, as there was no indication of damage during the flight.

In a statement provided to The Hill, the company said it will conduct an investigation into the incident.

“We’ll 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,” United said.

Airport Director Amber Judd said no debris was located after the plane landed.

“Normal operations at MFR resumed a few minutes later,” Judd told The Hill.

Boeing referred The Hill to United Airlines for information about their fleet and operations when contacted for comment.

The incident occurred two months after a Boeing 737 Max plane, operated by Alaska Airlines, lost a door panel mid-flight. The Department of Justice has since opened a criminal investigation into the Jan. 5 incident.