American plane flies trans-Atlantic trip with missing panel

WASHINGTON (CNN) - An American Airlines plane flew 4,940 miles from Dallas to Paris even though a "large panel" fell off the underside as the flight took off, the airline said in a memo to pilots.

Pilots and crew heard a noise and felt vibrations as the plane passed through 10,000 feet, but did not know the cause until they landed in Paris, according to the memo, which was obtained by CNN.

"There was no way this crew could have known this panel had departed," the memo says. "If they had known, they obviously would have returned."

American Airlines issued the statement after angry e-mails and photos of the hole left by the missing panel, allegedly from members of the flight crew, began circulating on the Internet and airline industry blogs.