Israel Returns Sea Turtles after Tar Cleanup

A clump of tar is seen on the sand after an offshore oil spill drenched much of Israel's Mediterranean shoreline with tar, at a beach in Ashdod, southern Israel. Reuters
A clump of tar is seen on the sand after an offshore oil spill drenched much of Israel's Mediterranean shoreline with tar, at a beach in Ashdod, southern Israel. Reuters
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Israel Returns Sea Turtles after Tar Cleanup

A clump of tar is seen on the sand after an offshore oil spill drenched much of Israel's Mediterranean shoreline with tar, at a beach in Ashdod, southern Israel. Reuters
A clump of tar is seen on the sand after an offshore oil spill drenched much of Israel's Mediterranean shoreline with tar, at a beach in Ashdod, southern Israel. Reuters

A handful of endangered sea turtles have been returned to Israel's Mediterranean waters after surviving an oil spill that required they undergo weeks of cleaning, including gastric purges with mayonnaise.

The mid-February disaster, blamed by Israeli authorities on crude released from a passing ship, blighted coasts as far north as Lebanon and Gaza to the south. Wildlife casualties included 29 green or loggerhead turtles that washed up dead.

But three of each endangered breed were rescued by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, whose rangers used cotton buds and wipes to painstakingly dislodge tar from the plate-sized animals' eyes, noses and mouths, Reuters reported.

Tube-fed mayonnaise also served to expel oil that had been swallowed or inhaled by the snappers, the Authority said.

The turtles - whose sex was not yet clear, given their young age - were lowered off a boat into the Mediterranean 3 miles (5 km) from shore, a distance the rangers hoped would spare them danger from predators, fishermen or marine traffic.

"They are very special animals in a position of extinction so every turtle that goes back to the sea and will survive and bring back more turtles to us," Authority head Shaul Goldstein said, after watching his former wards wade into the depths.

"Maybe this will prevent the extinction and will let our children and grandchildren see sea turtles in the future."



Iceland Volcano Still Pouring Out Fountains of Lava 

The lava flow that crossed Grindavikurvegur, the road to Grindavik in Iceland, Sunday March 17, 2024, a day after the volcanic eruption. (AP)
The lava flow that crossed Grindavikurvegur, the road to Grindavik in Iceland, Sunday March 17, 2024, a day after the volcanic eruption. (AP)
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Iceland Volcano Still Pouring Out Fountains of Lava 

The lava flow that crossed Grindavikurvegur, the road to Grindavik in Iceland, Sunday March 17, 2024, a day after the volcanic eruption. (AP)
The lava flow that crossed Grindavikurvegur, the road to Grindavik in Iceland, Sunday March 17, 2024, a day after the volcanic eruption. (AP)

A volcano in Iceland that erupted on Saturday for the fourth time since December was still spewing smoke and bright orange lava into the air early on Monday although infrastructure and a nearby fishing town were safe for now, authorities said.

The eruption was the seventh on the Reykjanes peninsula near Iceland's capital Reykjavik since 2021 when geological systems that had lain dormant for around 800 years again became active.

Man-made barriers have been successful in steering the lava away from infrastructure including the Svartsengi geothermal power plant and Grindavik, a fishing town of some 4,000 residents.

Footage from public broadcaster RUV showed lava flowing a few hundred meters from the town which was evacuated during an eruption in November and again during another one in February.

"The defenses at Grindavik proved their value ... they have guided the lava flow in the intended direction," local utility HS Orka said, adding that infrastructure running to the Svartsengi power plant was intact.

Magma had been accumulating underground since the last eruption in February, prompting authorities to warn of an imminent eruption.

The warning time late on Saturday was only 15 minutes before fountains of molten rock began soaring from a 3km-long (1.9 mile) fissure, roughly the same size and at the same place as the eruption in February.

Lava flows continued at a steady pace on Monday, and it was too early to project when it would end, Magnus Tumi Gudmundsson, professor of geophysics at the University of Iceland, told RUV.

"It was surprisingly stable overnight and certainly majestic, but is still only between 2-5% of what it was at the beginning," he said.

The February eruption lasted less than two days while volcanic activity continued for six months at a nearby system in 2021.


The Spring Equinox Is Here. What Does That Mean? 

Visitors hold their hands out to receive the sun's energy as they celebrate the Spring equinox atop the Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacan, Mexico, Thursday, March 21, 2019. (AP)
Visitors hold their hands out to receive the sun's energy as they celebrate the Spring equinox atop the Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacan, Mexico, Thursday, March 21, 2019. (AP)
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The Spring Equinox Is Here. What Does That Mean? 

Visitors hold their hands out to receive the sun's energy as they celebrate the Spring equinox atop the Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacan, Mexico, Thursday, March 21, 2019. (AP)
Visitors hold their hands out to receive the sun's energy as they celebrate the Spring equinox atop the Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacan, Mexico, Thursday, March 21, 2019. (AP)

Spring is almost here — officially, at least.

The vernal equinox arrives on Tuesday, marking the start of the spring season for the Northern Hemisphere.

But what does that actually mean? Here's what to know about how we split up the year using the Earth's orbit.

What is the equinox? As the Earth travels around the sun, it does so at an angle.

For most of the year, the Earth’s axis is tilted either toward or away from the sun. That means the sun’s warmth and light fall unequally on the northern and southern halves of the planet.

During the equinox, the Earth’s axis and its orbit line up so that both hemispheres get an equal amount of sunlight.

The word equinox comes from two Latin words meaning equal and night. That’s because on the equinox, day and night last almost the same amount of time — though one may get a few extra minutes, depending on where you are on the planet.

The Northern Hemisphere’s spring — or vernal — equinox can land between March 19 and 21, depending on the year. Its fall – or autumnal — equinox can land between Sept. 21 and 24.

What is the solstice? The solstices mark the times during the year when the Earth is at its most extreme tilt toward or away from the sun. This means the hemispheres are getting very different amounts of sunlight — and days and nights are at their most unequal.

During the Northern Hemisphere’s summer solstice, the upper half of the earth is tilted in toward the sun, creating the longest day and shortest night of the year. This solstice falls between June 20 and 22.

Meanwhile, at the winter solstice, the Northern Hemisphere is leaning away from the sun — leading to the shortest day and longest night of the year. The winter solstice falls between December 20 and 23.

What's the difference between meteorological and astronomical seasons? These are just two different ways to carve up the year.

Meteorological seasons are defined by the weather. They break down the year into three-month seasons based on annual temperature cycles. By that calendar, spring starts on March 1, summer on June 1, fall on Sept. 1 and winter on Dec. 1.

Astronomical seasons depend on how the Earth moves around the sun.

Equinoxes mark the start of spring and autumn. Solstices kick off summer and winter.


US Library Says Will Excuse Overdue Book Charges in Exchange for Cat Photos

The goal is to encourage people to read and visit the library. The New York Post
The goal is to encourage people to read and visit the library. The New York Post
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US Library Says Will Excuse Overdue Book Charges in Exchange for Cat Photos

The goal is to encourage people to read and visit the library. The New York Post
The goal is to encourage people to read and visit the library. The New York Post

A library in Worcester, Massachusetts will scratch during the month of March certain fees off a book borrower’s record in exchange for a picture of the person’s cat — or any cat, for that matter, The New York Post reported.

The goal is to encourage people to read and visit the library, even if they owe money for a lost or damaged book, it said.

“People are struggling and sometimes choosing between paying for that book that, literally, your dog ate for $30 or buying $30 worth of groceries — those are two very different things,” Jason Homer, executive director of the Worcester Public Library, told Fox News Digital.

“And, people do have priorities. So we want to come to them with kindness, with forgiveness and say, ‘Just be part of our community.’”

It’s called the “Feline Fee Forgiveness” program — all part of the library’s month-long “March Meowness” event.

It aims to reduce barriers to returning to the library, regardless of a person’s circumstances.

And Homer and his staff thought, What better way to welcome people than with soft, cuddly cats?

“A librarian is a book lover, a cardigan lover and a cat lover,” Homer said.

“Our staff has a lot of cats. Some of the staff were in a meeting and they were coming up with ways to bring people back to the library, and they thought, ‘What if we removed as many barriers as possible and told people they could show us a picture of a cat, draw a picture of a cat or just tell us about a cat?'”


Record-breaking Rhododendron Plant Blooms a Month Early

"Big Rhodey" was planted more than 120 years ago and is believed to be the biggest in the UK. Photo: BBC
"Big Rhodey" was planted more than 120 years ago and is believed to be the biggest in the UK. Photo: BBC
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Record-breaking Rhododendron Plant Blooms a Month Early

"Big Rhodey" was planted more than 120 years ago and is believed to be the biggest in the UK. Photo: BBC
"Big Rhodey" was planted more than 120 years ago and is believed to be the biggest in the UK. Photo: BBC

A huge rhododendron nicknamed "Shrubzilla" has bloomed a month earlier than expected in the United Kingdon, BBC Radio Sussex.

The plant at the South Lodge Hotel, near Lower Beeding, West Sussex, usually blooms in April but due to recent wet weather has flowered now.

Also known as "Big Rhodey", it is thought to be more than 30 ft high (9.1m) and 40ft wide (12.1m).

The enormous shrub was planted more than 120 years ago and is believed to be the biggest in the UK.

Paul Collins, the hotel's head gardener, said: "I've worked here for 12 years and it keeps getting earlier and earlier every year, but this is the earliest I have ever known it to bloom. It is thriving off the rain."

Mr Collins said the plant was "covered in red and pink blooms" and so big "there is nothing I can do to it".

He told BBC Radio Sussex: "The reason that I believe it has bloomed this early is due to global warming."


UK Brass Band Keeps Miners' Legacy Burning, 40 Years after Strike

The brass band consistently ranks in the world's top 10. Oli SCARFF / AFP
The brass band consistently ranks in the world's top 10. Oli SCARFF / AFP
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UK Brass Band Keeps Miners' Legacy Burning, 40 Years after Strike

The brass band consistently ranks in the world's top 10. Oli SCARFF / AFP
The brass band consistently ranks in the world's top 10. Oli SCARFF / AFP

Memories of the UK's once-mighty mining industry are fading but 40 years after an epoch-defining strike, Carlton Main Frickley Colliery Band still embodies the close ties that once bound the community.
"It's like the band, when times are hard, we stick together," said Ray Sykes, chairman of the year-long 1984-85 strike, from the practice hall that has been his second home for 70 years, AFP said.
Miners at Frickley Colliery, in the Yorkshire town of South Elmsall in northern England, prided themselves on being "second to none" during the action against planned pit closures.
Very few broke the strike, which was once described as "the decisive social and economic confrontation of Britain's post-war era" that hastened the demise of heavy industry.
The mine, which employed 3,000 workers at its height, eventually succumbed and shut in 1993.
Pete Wordsworth, a miner from the age of 16 who was only in the job nine months when the strike began, said most miners had fared well since the closures.
"People who've worked in a coal mine can go into that big wide world and they can put their hand to anything," he added. "They want to work, they want to work hard."
However, the mines were the foundation of the regional economy, and without them, communities are still suffering economically.
South Elmsall is still among the top 10 percent of England's most deprived neighborhoods.
But the brass band marches on -- consistently still ranking in the world's top 10 -- and keeps Frickley on the international map.
'Really bitter'
Sykes, 77, said the heaviest toll had been the gradual fracturing of the community bond, forged in the unforgiving and often dangerous subterranean world of heat and dust.
Camaraderie spread through the community above, he said. "Sadly we're losing it, and you can see it happening in the village," he told AFP.
He likened the pit closure's effect on the community to "a son losing his father".
The community's social life largely revolved around the mine -- including not only the band but local football club Frickley Athletic, which is still plying its trade four leagues below professional level.
On Saturday the club marked the anniversary by wearing the same shirt as the team wore in 1984. On the back was written "The Miners United will never be defeated".
Hundreds packed the club's 100-year-old main stand, which was decorated with a flag depicting firebrand union boss Arthur Scargill being arrested during the strike.
But wounds opened during the miners' strike are not yet fully healed.
"The violence in the village was quite nasty, really nasty, and I wouldn't like to see that ever, ever again," said Sykes, whose father and grandfather both worked at the pit.
Wordsworth, who stopped working as a miner in 2015, said the most ardent strikers "are still saying that they would not speak to a miner who went back to work. They are really, really bitter."
He is now deputy mine manager at the National Coal Mining Museum in Wakefield, which has special exhibitions marking the strike's anniversary.
"All the small villages had really good communities and everybody pulled together," he said, in the shadow of the old mine's winding gear.
But pit closures "fragmented" those communities, he said. Miners moved to find work and more educated people left.
Love and legacy
Even the celebrated band came close to shutting during the strike, as financial hardship whittled its numbers down to just eight.
Its reputation for excellence was its saving grace, helping it to attract talented players from hours away with no links to the pit.
They are now trumpeting the area's heritage and identity.
"That's what keeps this band going, the name," said a visibly emotional Sykes, beating his hand on the 119-year-old band's logo, over his heart.
"We've been told many times to lose the word colliery. We'll not. It's pride."
One such newcomer is cornet player Tabby Kerwin, who makes a two-hour round trip for each of the twice-weekly practices.
"Everyone does it for the love of it and for the legacy, for the history. We all know we're custodians for the next generation," she said before practice.
"The colliery is so closely interwoven into the band's history and everyone that comes into the band, however young they are.. wherever they are from, have that awareness of it."


South Sudan Shutters All Schools as It Prepares for an Extreme Heat Wave

South Sudan, one of the world’s youngest nations, is particularly vulnerable to climate change with heatwaves common but rarely exceeding 40C. (Reuters)
South Sudan, one of the world’s youngest nations, is particularly vulnerable to climate change with heatwaves common but rarely exceeding 40C. (Reuters)
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South Sudan Shutters All Schools as It Prepares for an Extreme Heat Wave

South Sudan, one of the world’s youngest nations, is particularly vulnerable to climate change with heatwaves common but rarely exceeding 40C. (Reuters)
South Sudan, one of the world’s youngest nations, is particularly vulnerable to climate change with heatwaves common but rarely exceeding 40C. (Reuters)

South Sudan's government is closing down all schools starting Monday as the country prepares for a wave of extreme heat expected to last two weeks.

The health and education ministries advised parents to keep all children indoors as temperatures are expected to soar to 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit), in a statement late Saturday,

They warned that any school found open during that time would have its registration withdrawn, but didn't specify how long the schools would remain shuttered.

The ministries said they “will continue to monitor the situation and inform the public accordingly.”

Peter Garang, a resident who lives in the capital, Juba, welcomed the decision. He said that “schools should be connected to the electricity grid" to enable the installation of air conditioners.

South Sudan, one of the world’s youngest nations, is particularly vulnerable to climate change with heatwaves common but rarely exceeding 40C. Civil conflict has plagued the east African country which also suffered from drought and flooding, making living conditions difficult for residents.

The World Food Program in its latest country brief said South Sudan “continues to face a dire humanitarian crisis” due to violence, economic instability, climate change and an influx of people fleeing the conflict in neighboring Sudan. It also stated that 818,000 vulnerable people were given food and cash-based transfers in January 2024.


Volcano in Iceland Erupts for Fourth Time in 3 Months, Sending Plumes of Lava Skywards

This handout picture released by the Icelandic Coast Guard on March 16, 2024 shows billowing smoke and flowing lava pouring out of a new fissure during a new volcanic eruption on the outskirts of the evacuated town of Grindavik, western Iceland. (Photo by Handout / Icelandic Coast Guard / AFP)
This handout picture released by the Icelandic Coast Guard on March 16, 2024 shows billowing smoke and flowing lava pouring out of a new fissure during a new volcanic eruption on the outskirts of the evacuated town of Grindavik, western Iceland. (Photo by Handout / Icelandic Coast Guard / AFP)
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Volcano in Iceland Erupts for Fourth Time in 3 Months, Sending Plumes of Lava Skywards

This handout picture released by the Icelandic Coast Guard on March 16, 2024 shows billowing smoke and flowing lava pouring out of a new fissure during a new volcanic eruption on the outskirts of the evacuated town of Grindavik, western Iceland. (Photo by Handout / Icelandic Coast Guard / AFP)
This handout picture released by the Icelandic Coast Guard on March 16, 2024 shows billowing smoke and flowing lava pouring out of a new fissure during a new volcanic eruption on the outskirts of the evacuated town of Grindavik, western Iceland. (Photo by Handout / Icelandic Coast Guard / AFP)

A volcano in Iceland erupted Saturday evening for the fourth time in three months, sending orange jets of lava into the night sky.

Iceland’s Meteorological Office said the eruption opened a fissure in the earth about 3 kilometers (almost 2 miles) long between Stóra-Skógfell and Hagafell mountains on the Reykjanes Peninsula.

The Met Office had warned for weeks that magma — semi-molten rock — was accumulating under the ground, making an eruption likely.

Hundreds of people were evacuated from the Blue Lagoon thermal spa, one of Iceland’s top tourist attractions, when the eruption began, national broadcaster RUV said.

No flight disruptions were reported at nearby Keflavik, Iceland’s main airport.

The eruption site is a few kilometers (miles) northeast of Grindavik, a coastal town of 3,800 people about 50 kilometers (30 miles) southwest of Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik, that was evacuated before the initial eruption in December. A few residents who had returned to their homes were evacuated again Saturday.

Grindavik was evacuated in November when the Svartsengi volcanic system awakened after almost 800 years with a series of earthquakes that opened large cracks in the ground north of the town.

The volcano eventually erupted on Dec. 18, sending lava flowing away from Grindavik. A second eruption that began on Jan. 14 sent lava toward the town. Defensive walls that had been bolstered after the first eruption stopped some of the flow, but several buildings were consumed by the lava.

Both eruptions lasted only a matter of days. A third eruption began Feb. 8. It petered out within hours, but not before a river of lava engulfed a pipeline, cutting off heat and hot water to thousands of people.

RUV quoted geophysicist Magnús Tumi Guðmundsson as saying that the latest eruption is the most powerful so far. The Met Office said some of the lava was flowing towards the defensive barriers around Grindavik.

Iceland, which sits above a volcanic hot spot in the North Atlantic, sees regular eruptions and is highly experienced at dealing with them. The most disruptive in recent times was the 2010 eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, which spewed huge clouds of ash into the atmosphere and led to widespread airspace closures over Europe.

No confirmed deaths have been reported from any of the recent eruptions, but a workman was declared missing after falling into a fissure opened by the volcano.


Musk's SpaceX is Reportedly Building Spy Satellite Network for US Intelligence Agency

FILE PHOTO: Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla and owner of X, formerly known as Twitter, attends the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at the Porte de Versailles exhibition centre in Paris, France, June 16, 2023. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla and owner of X, formerly known as Twitter, attends the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at the Porte de Versailles exhibition centre in Paris, France, June 16, 2023. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo
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Musk's SpaceX is Reportedly Building Spy Satellite Network for US Intelligence Agency

FILE PHOTO: Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla and owner of X, formerly known as Twitter, attends the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at the Porte de Versailles exhibition centre in Paris, France, June 16, 2023. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla and owner of X, formerly known as Twitter, attends the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at the Porte de Versailles exhibition centre in Paris, France, June 16, 2023. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo

SpaceX is building a network of hundreds of spy satellites under a classified contract with a US intelligence agency, five sources familiar with the program said, demonstrating deepening ties between billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk's space company and national security agencies.

The network is being built by SpaceX's Starshield business unit under a $1.8 billion contract signed in 2021 with the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), an intelligence agency that manages spy satellites, the sources said.

The plans show the extent of SpaceX's involvement in US intelligence and military projects and illustrate a deeper Pentagon investment into vast, low-Earth orbiting satellite systems aimed at supporting ground forces.

If successful, the sources said the program would significantly advance the ability of the US government and military to quickly spot potential targets almost anywhere on the globe.

The contract signals growing trust by the intelligence establishment of a company whose owner has clashed with the Biden administration and sparked controversy over the use of Starlink satellite connectivity in the Ukraine war, the sources said.

The Wall Street Journal reported in February the existence of a $1.8 billion classified Starshield contract with an unknown intelligence agency without detailing the purposes of the program.
Reuters reporting discloses for the first time that the SpaceX contract is for a powerful new spy system with hundreds of satellites bearing Earth-imaging capabilities that can operate as a swarm in low orbits, and that the spy agency that Musk's company is working with is the NRO.

Reuters was unable to determine when the new network of satellites would come online and could not establish what other companies are part of the program with their own contracts.

SpaceX, the world's largest satellite operator, did not respond to several requests for comment about the contract, its role in it and details on satellite launches. The Pentagon referred a request for comment to the NRO and SpaceX.

In a statement the NRO acknowledged its mission to develop a sophisticated satellite system and its partnerships with other government agencies, companies, research institutions and nations, but declined to comment on Reuters' findings about the extent of SpaceX’s involvement in the effort.

"The National Reconnaissance Office is developing the most capable, diverse, and resilient space-based intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance system the world has ever seen," a spokesperson said.

The satellites can track targets on the ground and share that data with US intelligence and military officials, the sources said. In principle, that would enable the US government to quickly capture continuous imagery of activities on the ground nearly anywhere on the globe, aiding intelligence and military operations, they added.

Roughly a dozen prototypes have been launched since 2020, among other satellites on SpaceX's Falcon 9 rockets, three of the sources said.

A US government database of objects in orbit shows several SpaceX missions having deployed satellites that neither the company nor the government have ever acknowledged. Two sources confirmed those to be prototypes for the Starshield network.

All the sources asked to remain anonymous because they were not authorized to discuss the US government program.
The Pentagon is already a big SpaceX customer, using its Falcon 9 rockets to launch military payloads into space. Starshield's first prototype satellite, launched in 2020, was part of a separate, roughly $200 million contract that helped position SpaceX for the subsequent $1.8 billion award, one of the sources said.

The planned Starshield network is separate from Starlink, SpaceX's growing commercial broadband constellation that has about 5,500 satellites in space to provide near-global internet to consumers, companies and government agencies.


Model and Actor Cara Delevingne's Los Angeles Home Destroyed in Fire

An aerial view shows a fire-damaged property, which appears to belong to Cara Delevingne, Friday, March 15, 2024, in the Studio City section of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
An aerial view shows a fire-damaged property, which appears to belong to Cara Delevingne, Friday, March 15, 2024, in the Studio City section of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
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Model and Actor Cara Delevingne's Los Angeles Home Destroyed in Fire

An aerial view shows a fire-damaged property, which appears to belong to Cara Delevingne, Friday, March 15, 2024, in the Studio City section of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
An aerial view shows a fire-damaged property, which appears to belong to Cara Delevingne, Friday, March 15, 2024, in the Studio City section of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

The Los Angeles home of model and actor Cara Delevingne was destroyed in a fire Friday.
One firefighter was taken to a hospital in fair condition with unspecified injuries, and one unidentified person from the house suffered minor smoke inhalation, Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Nicholas Prange said.
Delevingne shared several Instagram stories referring to the fire after TMZ reported that the house in the Studio City neighborhood that was engulfed in flames before dawn belonged to her. Delevingne is currently appearing in a production of “Cabaret” on London's West End and was apparently not at home.
Firefighters arrived at the two-story house to find heavy fire in the rear, which destroyed a room and spread to the attic, Prange said. Once fire crews made certain everyone was out of the house, they took a defensive position and the roof collapsed. It took them more than two hours to put out the flames.
Hours later, Delevingne, shared a video that showed a street full of fire trucks with lights flashing.
“Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all the firefighters and people that have showed up to help,” another Instagram story read.
A third Instagram story showed a photo of two cats with the caption, “ My heart is broken today I cannot believe it life can change in the blink of an eye cherish what you have.” She later clarified with another post that her cats were not hurt in the fire.


Older Boeing Plane Found to Have Missing Panel following Flight

A worker walks under the Boeing plane that landed at Rogue Valley International Airport-Medford after a flight from San Francisco with a missing panel(AP)
A worker walks under the Boeing plane that landed at Rogue Valley International Airport-Medford after a flight from San Francisco with a missing panel(AP)
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Older Boeing Plane Found to Have Missing Panel following Flight

A worker walks under the Boeing plane that landed at Rogue Valley International Airport-Medford after a flight from San Francisco with a missing panel(AP)
A worker walks under the Boeing plane that landed at Rogue Valley International Airport-Medford after a flight from San Francisco with a missing panel(AP)

A post-flight inspection revealed a missing panel on an older Boeing 737-800 that had just arrived at its destination in southern Oregon on Friday after flying from San Francisco, officials said, the latest in a series of recent incidents involving aircraft manufactured by the company.

United Flight 433 left San Francisco at 10:20 a.m. and landed at Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport in Medford shortly before noon, according to FlightAware. The airport’s director, Amber Judd, said the plane landed safely without incident and the external panel was discovered missing during a post-flight inspection. No injuries were reported.

The airport paused operations to check the runway and airfield for debris, Judd said, and none was found, The AP reported.

Judd said she believed the United ground crew or pilots doing a routine inspection before the next flight were the ones who noticed the missing panel.

A United Airlines spokesperson said via email that the flight was carrying 139 passengers and six crew members, and no emergency was declared because there was no indication of the damage during the flight.

“After the aircraft was parked at the gate, it was discovered to be missing an external panel,” the United spokesperson said. “We’ll conduct a thorough examination of the plane and perform all the needed repairs before it returns to service. We’ll also conduct an investigation to better understand how this damage occurred.”

The Federal Aviation Administration also said it would investigate.

The missing panel was on the underside of the aircraft where the wing meets the body and just next to the landing gear, United said.

The plane made its first flight in April 1998 and was delivered to Continental Airlines in December of that year, according to the FAA. United Airlines has operated it since Nov. 30, 2011. It is a 737-824, part of the 737-800 series that was a precursor to the Max.

Boeing said, also via email, that it would defer comment to United about the carrier's fleet and operations.

In January a panel that plugged a space left for an extra emergency door blew off a Boeing Max 9 jet in midair just minutes after an Alaska Airlines flight took off from Portland, leaving a gaping hole and forcing pilots to make an emergency landing. There were no serious injuries.

The door plug was eventually found in the backyard of a high school physics teacher in southwest Portland, along with other debris from the flight scattered nearby. The Department of Justice has launched a criminal investigation.

On March 6, fumes detected in the cabin of a Boeing 737-800 Alaska Airlines flight destined for Phoenix caused pilots to head back to the Portland airport.

The Port of Portland said passengers and crew noticed the fumes and the flight landed safely. Seven people including passengers and crew requested medical evaluations, but no one was hospitalized, officials said.