United flight missing panel lands safely
PORTLAND, Ore. -- 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, Ore., 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.
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.
1 dead, 5 hurt in Indianapolis shooting
INDIANAPOLIS -- One person was killed and five others were injured in a shooting at an Indianapolis bar early Saturday, according to a news report.
Indianapolis Metro Police Department Cmdr. Matthew Thomas confirmed the death and the injuries to the other victims resulting from the shooting shortly before 1:30 a.m., WXIN-TV reported.
Thomas said five victims were transported by emergency responders to area hospitals and the sixth went to a hospital on their own after the shooting at Landsharks on Broad Ripple Avenue, WXIN reported.
The police did not immediately share the circumstances of the shooting or a description of any suspects and there were no immediate arrests, WXIN reported.
2 arrested concerning dead baby in trash
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. -- A woman believed to be the mother of an infant found dead in a trash bin earlier this year has been arrested, along with a man who police said helped her dispose of the body outside a South Florida apartment complex.
They are both charged with failure to report a death, and the man is also charged with illegal disposal of a body, Hollywood police said Friday night.
The full-term baby boy, with an umbilical cord still attached, was found on Jan. 7 by a roofing company worker who had noticed a foul odor. He found the baby in a reusable shopping bag inside the trash bin, and notified authorities, according to a police affidavit.
Police used video surveillance to track down the owner of a car that stopped beside the trash bin, and later used text messages between the man and woman, along with DNA samples taken from the shopping bag, to track down the mother.
An autopsy found the baby had no signs of trauma or injury, according to the affidavit. The final cause of death is pending further testing to determine whether the baby was born alive or stillborn, the affidavit said.
Ford electric-vehicle crash draws inquiry
DETROIT -- The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating a fatal crash in San Antonio involving a Ford electric vehicle that may have been using a partially automated driving system.
The agency said in a statement Friday that a team of investigators from its Office of Highway Safety will travel to Texas and work with police on the Feb. 24 crash on Interstate 10.
The NTSB said preliminary information shows a Ford Mustang Mach-E SUV equipped with the company's partially automated driving system collided with the rear of a Honda CR-V that was stopped in one of the highway lanes.
Television station KSAT reported that the Mach-E driver told police the Honda was stopped in the middle lane with no lights on before the crash about 9:50 p.m. The 56-year-old driver of the CR-V was killed.
"NTSB is investigating this fatal crash due to its continued interest in advanced driver assistance systems and how vehicle operators interact with these technologies," the agency statement said.
Ford's Blue Cruise system allows drivers to take their hands off the steering wheel while it handles steering, braking and acceleration on highways. The company says the system isn't fully autonomous and it monitors drivers to make sure they pay attention to the road.
There are no fully autonomous vehicles for sale to the public in the U.S.