Piece found missing on Boeing plane after flight to Medford
By Liv Collom
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MEDFORD, Oregon (KDRV) — NewsWatch 12 has learned that United Airlines knew about a missing piece on a plane during a flight from San Francisco to Medford on May 13 — and allowed the flight to continue as normal.
Erin with United Airlines’ media relations team confirmed over the phone to NewsWatch 12 that the maintenance team was aware of the issue and the missing piece had a write-up on the plane’s minimum equipment list (MEL).
After NewsWatch 12 broke this story, United Airlines’ media relations team emailed NewsWatch 12 saying the maintenance team “purposely removed the piece.”
NewsWatch 12 responded asking about the reason for the piece removal, and if passengers were notified about the removal of the piece. They have not responded.
Today, NewsWatch 12 spoke with Salvador Garza, a passenger on the flight, who said he noticed a piece of the plane missing while mid-air.
“It was kind of surreal and unbelievable,” Garza said. “I didn’t want to cause a panic.”
However, United told NewsWatch 12 the plane was OK to operate without the piece, which NewsWatch 12 learned is a cover to the flap track fairing — which is used for aerodynamics and warning ground crews. United said the piece missing is an external piece that does not cause any safety issue to passengers.
In an exclusive interview, Garza — who was on Flight 433 — told NewsWatch 12 he was sitting on the right side of the Boeing 737-800 mid-air when he noticed a piece missing during his flight. He waited for the plane to land before informing the crew.
“All those scenarios that you see on movies of people saying their prayers before they meet their untimely demise all passed through my mind’s eye,” he said.
Garza said he then reached out to United and had two separate conversations with representatives, one of which mentioned compensating him for his experience.
NewsWatch 12 reached out to the Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport, who said they were unaware of this incident.
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