Finance & Business World

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating an incident in which a panel fell off a wing on a US Airways Group Inc. flight to Philadelphia from Orlando, Fla.

The aircraft, a Boeing B-757, landed safely following the March 22 flight.

Citing "people familiar with the matter," The Wall Street Journal reports the airline had "discovered improper maintenance had been performed on the wings of seven of its Boeing 757 planes."

A US Airways representative says the carrier will "not be commenting beyond what's in the statement" it issued Thursday. The statement, a brief description of the incident, mentioned nothing about improper maintenance.

The US Airways statement said the airline "contacted federal authorities immediately after the incident and began inspections of similar aircraft in the US Airways fleet that day."

The NTSB says a four-foot by five-foot composite panel flew off the trailing edge of the upper side of the left wing at around 9:30 a.m instant payday loan.

The panel "broke loose from the aircraft and struck several of the windows towards the rear of the aircraft," the agency says. "The impact caused the outer pane of one window to crack. The inner pane was undamaged and the pressurization of the aircraft was not compromised."

The NTSB is trying to locate the panel. The Air Line Pilots Association, Boeing Commercial Airplanes, the Federal Aviation Administration and US Airways are involved in the investigation.

US Airways (NYSE:LCC) has its largest hub at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport. The Arizona-based carrier operates 3,800 flights per day to some 230 destinations in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America.

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