A Boeing airplane was reportedly seen landing in San Diego International Airport with parts of its tail and the flight crew was reportedly...
A Boeing airplane was reportedly seen landing in San Diego International Airport with parts of its tail and the flight crew was reportedly unaware.
On Tuesday, an iAero Airways Boeing 737-800 flight took off from Southern California Logistics Airport, or Victorville, at 3:14pm and arrived at the San Diego airport at 3:55pm.
Although no unusual incidents were reported during the brief flight, aviation enthusiast Doug Kempf revealed the plane's vertical stabilizer was partially broken by the time it landed.
Kempf shared photos of the Boeing 737-800, a registered N820TJ model built 22 years ago, to Twitter on Wednesday.
An iAero Airways, formerly Swift Airlines, Boeing 737-800 aircraft landed at the San Diego International Airport on Wednesday with pieces missing from its vertical stabilizer
A close up of the Boeing aircrafts appears to show two sections of the vertical stabilizer missing near the plane's base
'Yesterday I posted the photo on the left of N820TJ landing in San Diego with parts of its tail missing,' he wrote.
He added that another user sent him an additional photo and claimed that the damage occurred while in flight. The crew was reportedly unaware.
A second user named Menno Swart also shared photos of the Boeing plane with the caption, 'What is wrong with this picture?'
The plane flew to the San Diego International Airport from Southern California Logistics Airport, or Victorville, on the same day it visited Phoenix and Denver
NASA: The vertical stabilizer (pictured) keeps the nose of the plane from swinging from side to side, which is called yaw'
Images appear to show at least two sections of the vertical stabilizer missing at the base of the aircraft's tail.
Before landing in San Diego, the flight flew from Phoenix to Denver and then Denver to Victorville.
The vertical stabilizer's job is to keep the airplane stable and help it fly straight through the air.
'The vertical stabilizer keeps the nose of the plane from swinging from side to side, which is called yaw,' according to NASA.
Aviation enthusiast Doug Kempf first shared photos of the plane on Wednesday to his Twitter account
A second person shared photos that he alleged were of the Boeing 737-800 flight
iAero Airways, formerly Swift Airlines, has not publicly addressed the concerning photos.
A spokesperson with the Federal Aviation Administration told DailyMail.com that iAero 'reported this incident to the FAA the day it occurred (Tuesday) and we are investigating.
'We haven’t made any determinations yet.'
DailyMail.com has reached out to Boeing and iAero for further comment.
The Miami-based airline company owns 33 Boeing plans has seven Boeing 737-800's, International Business Times reports.
It operates charter flights for national level fractional aircraft operators, construction transport, financial institutions, major tour operators and many collegiate and professional sports organizations.
Victorville is known as an airplane boneyard and storage site for unneeded aircraft.
Aircraft are stored there because the dry desert environment prevents them from rusting.
The Southern California Logistics Airport is home to Southwest's collection of Boeing 737 Max jets.
In 2019, two plane malfunctions involving Boeing 737 Max’s crashed in Indonesia and Ethiopia.
Pictured: Aviation officials inspect the recovered engine that was involved in the plane crash in Indonesia
The fallout saw Boeing Max 737 planes taken out of operation and severe backlash from both passengers and federal officials.
Last week, it was revealed Boeing failed to sell a single commercial airplane and had 108 orders of the embattled 737 Max cancelled in April, compounding its worst start to a year since 1962.
Boeing said it delivered just six planes last month, bringing the total to 56 for the first four months of 2020 - a 67 percent decline from a year earlier - as it battles its biggest crisis in history.
In recent months, the air travel industry has taken a massive blow as the coronavirus pandemic nearly shuttered passenger flights and left planes idle at airports.
The 2019 crisis was the first halt in 737 production in 20 years in January and led to the departure of Chief Executive Officer Dennis Muilenburg in December last year.
Boeing failed to sell a single commercial airplane and had 108 orders of the embattled 737 Max cancelled in April, compounding its worst start to a year since 1962. Grounded Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft pictured parked at Victorville Airport in Victorville, California on March 26, 2019
As demand for air travel has dried up, Boeing said it would cut its 160,000-person workforce by about 10 percent and has raised $25billion in a bond offering to boost liquidity to prepare for a years-long industry recovery.
Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun has said it could take three years for air travel demand to recover to 2019 levels.
On Tuesday speaking on the Today show Calhoun said he believed a major US carrier will go out of business in September when the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act ends, but refused to give specifics.
'I don’t want to get too predictive on that subject. But yes, most likely, something will happen when September comes around,' he said.
He said that airline traffic won’t even be 25 percent by September and 'maybe' only 50 percent by the end of the year.
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