The US Federal Aviation Administration is investigating another Boeing incident this comes after a United Airlines plane lost an external panel before landing in Oregon from San Francisco yesterday afternoon while the plane managed to land safely it’s once again putting Boeing’s reputation and safety record into the spotlight joining us now is a
Man who has thousands of hours under his belt flying Boeing Jets Richard Levy a retired commercial airline captain and Aviation expert good to see you again Captain Levy good to see you Joe so lots to cover here Captain but let’s start with yesterday’s incident United Airlines says it’s also investigating
This latest issue involving a lost panel and that no emergency was declared because there was no indication of the damage during the flight how easy is it for something like this to go unnoticed and does this concern you it does not concern me whatsoever Joe this 737
Airplane was not a Max it was an older 737 actually United purchased it from a another airline before there was a a merger that took place many years ago in any event the piece fell off did not affect pressurization on the airplane whatsoever if the piece was that
Critical that would affect the Integrity of the airplane or pressurization the crew would have received a warning Bell horn light and they received none of this this did not affect the airworthiness of the airplane the airplane did not just come out of the Boeing factory it was an older aircraft
The airplane landed safely yes it’s going to be an investigation because of the recent news with Boeing but as far as safety this does not concern me whatsoever and this United Airlines flight that landed in Oregon marks the seventh reported incident involving a Boeing this week alone now obviously
Planes losing Hardware doesn’t happen every day but some of the other emergency Landings we’ve heard about like the American Airlines Boeing trip 7 that was forced to land in Los Angeles due to mechanical issues on uh Wednesday how common are those are we just hearing about them because of the recent
Spotlight on Boeing well Joe you’re talking about something I love very much my last 13 years with a major US Airline was on the Boeing Triple 7 and coincidentally I had the same issue with an airplane uh many years ago it was a low pressure on one of the tires and in
This case they felt it was low enough that they did not want to continue on to to um across the Pacific so they landed and there there was uh zero relevance to safety of the airplane did the crew make a great decision absolutely we don’t take risk in aviation land the airplane
If that’s the safest option to take and they took that now a few days ago we learned the national Transportation safety board doesn’t know who worked on the Boeing 737 door plug involved in the Alaska Airlines blowout from earlier this year and that the video footage was
Overwritten and then just last week the Wall Street Journal reported that the Department of Justice has launched a criminal investigation into that midair blowout how common is it for the doj to get involved in incidents like this and what do you think their investigation will find it is very rare indeed Joe
It’s a good question uh they’re looking at the possibility of criminal activity did somebody intentionally uh forget to put the bolts on or was it a human oversight and that will be found out through depositions and hearings it’s very very rare I do not even recall the doj getting involved in any aircraft
Mishap during my 41 years of flying for a major airline or since then and this week a Boeing whistleblower was found dead in South Carolina his family has since released a statement saying that he tried to highlight serious concerns but was met with a culture of concealment that
Valued profit over safety and now last time we spoke you mentioned that to restore its reputation Boeing needs to have some serious internal conversations about safety and quality control during its manufacturing process can the company Salvage its reputation 100% they can and Boeing makes great airplanes we know that
Boeing is under the spotlight right now Joe but I also receive safety reports daily through the internet through reliable email sources and we would you also believe that Airbus has issues not daily but almost every day that are next to meaningless they they’re reported the airplane sometimes turns around and
Returns to land and the other times they continue on but because of the door plug issue with Alaska Airlines the focus is on Boeing but I stick with what you and I talked about last time Joe yes quality assurance needs to be stepped up needs
To it is being stepped up and it will be enforced by the national Transportation safety board and the United States Federal Aviation Administration all right and you also mentioned last time that you’d be 100% comfortable traveling on a Boeing jet with your family tomorrow is that still
The case and what would you say to people who might have an upcoming trip on a Boeing it’s a good question Joe and I get the question very often I would have zero hesitation to grab my wife and fly on a Boeing 737 max8 or nine any type of Boeing 737
Trip 7 or any Boeing product I flew these Boeing airplanes 41 years had a great time findly them and I had uh really no engine shutdowns one precautionary shutdown in 41 years Boeing makes a good product do they need to clean housee a little bit here based
On what the ntsv has found out in their investigations absolutely I think this is what we call an aviation a course correction and it will the course correction will be made to use that metaphor and Boeing will be producing more and more airplanes and they’re going to be good airplanes safe
Airplanes and for the listening public they should have no hesitation to fly on a Boeing airplane all right well I’m sure that’s comforting for uh viewers to hear that’s Richard Levy a retired commercial airline captain and Aviation expert thanks so much for your time
A Boeing 737-800 aircraft operated by United Airlines flew Friday with a large part of its exterior missing, according to the airline, marking the latest in a series of malfunctions to plague the manufacturer.
The flight from San Francisco to Oregon landed safely, but upon arrival crews discovered a broken exterior panel on the 25-year-old aircraft.
According to a statement from United Airlines, no emergency had been declared and the missing piece was not discovered until all 139 passengers and six crew members safely disembarked from the plane.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) says it has launched an investigation into the incident. It marks the seventh reported incident involving a Boeing plane just this week.
Global’s Joe Scarpelli is joined by Capt. Richard J. Levy, Former Commercial Pilot and Aviation Expert, to discuss recent issues with Boeing airplanes that have raised concerns about reliability and safety.
For more info, please go to
Subscribe to Global News Channel HERE:
Like Global News on Facebook HERE:
Follow Global News on Twitter HERE:
Follow Global News on Instagram HERE:
#GlobalNews #Boeing #UnitedAirlines
