A panel the size of a laptop computer fell off one of the Japanese prime minister’s jumbo jets, the defense force said on Friday, a potentially embarrassing mishap amid concern over the dangers posed by parts falling off U.S. military aircraft based in Japan.
Officials noticed the panel was missing from the Boeing 747, one of two jetliners used by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for foreign trips, after it flew from Tokyo to its base on the northern island of Hokkaido on Thursday, a spokesman for the Japan Air Self Defence Force (ASDF) said.
The part, measuring 38 cm (15 inches) by 20 cm, has not been found. It is an access panel near the pylon connecting one of the engines to the right wing.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-japa ... SKBN1F10C9
