Boeing 737 external panel falls off during flight

The external panel of a Boeing 737 airplane fell off during a United Airlines' flight departing from San Francisco, California in the United States (US) on March 15, 2024.

The Boeing 737 was discovered to be missing the external panel after the plane landed at the airport in Oregon, Mothership reports.

The Boeing 737-800 had 139 passengers and six crew members during the flight.

Built in late 1988, the plane was 25 years old, and has been operated by United Airlines since Nov. 30, 2011, Rogue Valley Times reported.

After landing at Rogue Valley International Medford Airport in Jackson County, Oregon at around 1:45pm, the Boeing 737-800 went through a post-landing airline inspection and was discovered without the external panel.

Traffic was briefly halted at the airport to search for the panel, but it was nowhere to be found.

Quite a sight as United #433 lands at Medford Airport this afternoon after panel apparently lost in-flight from San Francisco. No injuries, all safe, per updates coming in from our reporters. Plane is a 25-year-old Boeing 737-824 More coming soon from@RogueValTimes
newsroom. pic.twitter.com/IlN7c1d5mF

— David Sommers (@david_sommers) March 15, 2024

Reuters reported that Boeing declined to comment and instead directed queries to United Airlines.

United Airlines said in a statement that no emergency was declared because there was no indication of the damage during the flight.

The airline said it will conduct a thorough examination of the plane and perform all the needed repairs before the plane returns to service.

The airline added that it will investigate to understand how this damage occurred.

The US' Federal Aviation Administration is also looking into the incident.

Recent spate of Boeing incidents

This incident comes after a recent spate of incidents involving Boeing aircraft, the most notable of which happened on Jan. 5, 2024, when a Boeing 737 Max 9's fuselage panel blew off mid-air during an Alaska Airlines flight from Portland to Ontario, California.

The incident happened less than 20 minutes into the flight and the plane had to make an emergency landing.

Less than three weeks later on Jan. 20, the tyre on the nose wheel of a Boeing 757 aircraft came loose and fell off just as the plane was preparing to take off on a Delta Airlines flight from Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia.