A 25-year-old Boeing 737-800 plane United Airlines flight 433, from San Francisco landed at the Rogue Valley International Airport in Medford, Oregon, at 11:30 (8:30GMT) on Friday, without one of its fuselage panels. The plane was carrying 139 passengers and 6 crew, landed safely as no one was injured. Boeing is under extreme scrutiny after a series of high profile safety incidents. 

According to Amber Judd a senior official at Rogue Valley International Medford Airport, the plane landed safely and the external panel was only discovered missing during a post-flight inspection. The missing panel was adjacent to the landing gear, on the underside of the aircraft. All outgoing and incoming flights were paused at the airport to search for debris but none was found. 

The US Federal Aviation Authority said it was investigating how the panel came apart.

In response to the latest Boeing incident, Boeing had told airlines that pilots need to check their seats after reports said a flight attendant accidentally hit a with in the cockpit which pushed the pilot’s seat forward into controls forcing the plane’s nose down.