2024-09-27 07:08:24
A new setback for Boeing. The United States Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on Thursday issued “urgent safety recommendations” regarding the rudder system of a Boeing 737 due to the risk of blocking or obstructing part of the engine. This warning also called into question the quality of these planes from the crash of two 737 MAX 8s in 2018 and 2019, which killed 346, then through a series of production problems throughout 2023.
This recommendation follows an incident that occurred on February 6 on a Boeing 737 MAX 8 of the American company United Airlines, in which the rudder pedals were stuck in neutral while taxiing on the tarmac after landing at Newark Airport, near New York. To avoid traveling the runway, the pilot had to use the front landing gear controls to control the direction of the plane, which was not damaged, explained the NTSB. None of the 155 passengers and crew members were injured.
The equipment in question: the guide system made by the American company Collins Aerospace (RTX company) was found to have a defective component: a poorly installed seal in the assembly allowed moisture to enter which, “in certain situations, can become stuck and thus limit the movements of the rUD device,” the press release details.
Collins told Boeing that more than 353 jets delivered since February 2017 contain this defect. They are installed on the tail of the 737 NG and 737 MAX, the current version of the 737 family United is believed to be the only company that receives planes with this defect.
A meeting on Friday
However, aviation regulator the FAA must now decide whether the nightmare simulators must be removed from still-operating planes. He said in a separate statement that he had been following the NTSB investigation “closely” and had planned a meeting early Friday to “determine next steps.”
Since the in-flight incident on the Alaska 737 MAX 9 flight in early January in which a door was lost in the plane, the American airline provider has been under close surveillance by the FAA.
In addition to these recurring technical problems, the company that renegotiated its collective agreement is holding a strike at several manufacturing plants. The new administration under the leadership of the new boss, Kelly Ortberg, who arrived on August 8, is trying to put the house in order.
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