Chunk of a Boeing 737 fell off United flight, this one from San Francisco to southern Oregon

[Mme. Defarge]

Source: The Oregonian

An exterior panel of a Boeing 737 carrying passengers on a United Airlines flight from San Francisco to Medford appears to have torn off mid-flight Friday, marking the latest in a string of recent high-profile mishaps for Boeing planes.

A photo of the plane shows a hole in the fuselage, exposing what appears to be mechanical components of the aircraft. United said the missing panel was located where one of the wings meets the aircraft’s body, near the landing gear. United did not answer questions about what caused the panel to fall to the ground.

The plane is a Boeing 737-800, according to United. It is not a Boeing 737 Max 9, which is the model of Boeing plane that made an emergency landing in Portland after a door plug flew off of the Alaska Airlines aircraft about six minutes into a Jan. 5 flight.

Friday’s Flight 433 landed shortly before noon as scheduled at Rogue Valley International Medford Airport, said airport Director Amber Judd. United said none of the 139 passengers and six crew members were injured.



Read more: https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/2024/03/chunk-of-a-boeing-737-fell-off-united-flight-this-one-from-san-francisco-to-southern-oregon.html

[JoseBalow]

1. Statistics be damned, I'm not flying on any Boeing planes anymore

Come to think of it, I think I'm done flying altogether.

[Mme. Defarge]

3. I'm right there with you.

Meanwhile, my frequent flyer miles on United and Alaska keep piling up. . .

[JoseBalow]

4. Are the miles transferable?

I've never dealt with frequent flyer miles; I fly infrequently

[onetexan]

15. Hubby & i travel yearly several times and their 757, 777 & 787s are awesome carriers

The lower models such as the 737 i would question. I worked for a major airline years ago and know there are many factors, including good maintenance schedules & rigid safety inspections, that need to happen before a plane can be put into service and maintained throughout its useful life cycle, age of aircraft being one of them. One 25 yrs old is questionable for sure.
In any event i would not discount air travel because of Boeing aircraft. I've flown many many Boring models and this latest report does not deter me from flying.

[Joinfortmill]

2. WTHF? I expect to hear from Pete B. soon.

Trains, people, trains. Buses, shuttles, more and varied types of public transportation. We're stuck with cars and planes.

[2naSalit]

5. Oh great!

I just booked a round trip for next month!

I don't fly much but I don't want to to drive that far.

[TygrBright]

6. If it's Boeing, I'm not going. n/t

[BootinUp]

7. omg, they really dropped their quality checks. Glad I have no need to fly lately. nt

[Mme. Defarge]

8. Gotta pay those bonuses

Last edited Sat Mar 16, 2024, 01:42 AM - Edit history (1)

and dividends. I think of it as cannibalistic capitalism.

[HandmaidsTaleUntold]

9. Murder

If they will murder a whistleblower then they will have no problem killing you too.

[InstantGratification]

10. Need to know more

I'm on the fence with this one until I get more info. This one couldbe Boeing's fault, but for the kind of failure that the reporting is describing, it is more likely to be a maintainer error. Some ground crew member could easily have failed to properly latch a maintenance access panel, preventing it from being properly secured.

[SKKY]

11. There could be many reasons for this, and not all of them point to Boeing...

...A co-worker of mine is married to a UPS pilot, and I asked him for his thoughts on what seems to be going on with Boeing. He suggested it likely has more to do with maintenance than the actual manufacturing of the plane. So, not being a pilot myself, nor do I have any experience in aircraft maintenance, I tend to look to those whose opinion I trust on the matter. And with over 20 years of experience, his is definitely one I trust.

[C Moon]

12. Have any of these things happened throughout the years with other aircraft and nobody batted an eyelash?

I beginning to think Boeing is under the media microscope right now, so everything that happens from time to time, is being reported.
When this kind of thing goes on, I tend to think there's some billionaire somewhere who is up to no good.

[EX500rider]

18. That is exactly what is going on

Small panel falls off airplane isn't normally national news

[EX500rider]

19. Example: I bet nobody heard of this incident

...which was covered by a industry site:
Engine Panel Falls Off Of Eurowings Airbus A319 Over Germany

https://simpleflying.com/eurowings-panel-missing/

[jmowreader]

13. The last 737-800 was built in 2019

By now, anything that would have fallen off an -800 due to Boeing error would have done it by now. I predict (most likely) mistakes made by the ramp crew or (less likely) mistakes made in maintenance as the cause.

[Aussie105]

14. Planes are complex machines.

And like any machine, as they age and knock up the miles, problems develop that the designers never thought of or are checked during routine maintenance.

Probably more profitable to keep them flying and deal with problems as they arise, rather than have them on the ground not earning money while routine maintenance is done in more detail.

Be honest - who drives their car with just basic maintenance and have things go wrong unexpectedly?
Most of us, I daresay.

[twodogsbarking]

17. True but I never drive my car at 30,000 feet and 500 mph.

[Novara]

16. Really good Netflix documentary on Boeing

It details how the company's culture and quality went off the rails when they merged with McDonnell Douglas and when they moved company headquarters out of Seattle.

I will never fly again. Not if I can help it. I have driven across the country before and yeah, it takes a lot of time, but I hate flying anyway (I used to have to do it all the time for work) and I surely don't trust Boeing.

[EX500rider]

20. As long as you realize that driving is magnitudes more dangerous then flying...

According to the International Air Transport Association, out of every 7.7 million flights in 2021, there was just one crash. The overall fatality risk is 0.23% — you would need to fly every day for more than 10,000 years to be in a fatal plane crash.

On the other hand, the chances of dying in a car collision are about 1 in 101, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

[Oopsie Daisy]

22. I'm familiar with the 1/4% figure, but the other figure is alarming. One in 101... trips? miles? crashes?

[Aussie105]

24. The problem with statistics is that

Nobody dies 1/4% in a plane trip.

You either survive (0% fatality rate) or you die (100% fatality rate) in a crash.

'Only a little bit dead' isn't a takeaway from that 1/4% figure.

[Oopsie Daisy]

25. Sounds like a something that "Miracle Max" could handle.

[Oopsie Daisy]

21. More info...

[Bucky]

23. Poor Boeing, they're just having the worst luck lately.

It's almost like it's a pattern or something

[Aussie105]

26. If you live under a flight path . . .

be wary of falling panels and wheels any time a Boeing flies over.

And check your home insurance. And your car insurance.
Are you covered for a stray wheel squashing your car, for instance? Or is that an Act of God and not covered?