United Airlines flight arrives at Oregon Airport and is missing an external panel

A United Airlines flight that took off from San Francisco International Airport Friday morning landed in Oregon in the afternoon and missed an external panel, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

The panel was found to be missing after the plane, a Boeing 737-800, landed safely at its planned destination at Rogue Valley International Medford Airport in Oregon and parked at a gate, United Airlines said in a statement. It was unclear when and how the panel disappeared.

According to the airline, there was no evidence of any damage to the plane during the flight and the plane did not declare an emergency en route to Medford Airport.

“We will thoroughly examine the aircraft and make all necessary repairs before returning it to service,” the airline said. “We will also conduct an investigation to better understand how this damage occurred.”

According to United Airlines, the plane was carrying 139 passengers and a crew of six. No injuries have been reported.

Boeing referred questions about the flight to United Airlines. The FAA said it planned to investigate the episode.

The discovery of the missing panel on Friday came as Boeing has come under heavy scrutiny in recent weeks after a door-sized section blew off a Boeing 737 Max 9 Alaska Airlines flight in January just minutes after it took off from Portland, Ore. no major injuries during the flight, but the terrifying episode, which was captured on video, prompted government officials to investigate quality control at Boeing.

After the January flight, the FAA began a six-week audit of Boeing, finding “multiple instances” in which the planemaker had failed to meet quality control requirements.

Since then there have been a number of problems with flights using Boeing aircraft.

On March 8, a United Airlines flight that had landed at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston rolled into the grass as the plane, a Boeing 737, entered the taxiway, the FAA said.

In February, an American Airlines flight bound for Madrid, a Boeing 777, was diverted to Boston Logan International Airport with a cracked windshield shortly after taking off from New York’s Kennedy International Airport.