"737 Max suffers landing gear failure" is a sexy headline but it may be prudent to wait for a bit more information before jumping to too many conclusions - just because Boeing is fresh in everyone's minds. Wild speculation is inevitable under present circumstances but it doesn't necessarily need to happen here.
Not that Twitter is a great source of reliable information, but, well, nowhere else is either when it comes to something that happened like 2 hours ago.
Boeing stock did not seem to drop much on this news (at least not relative to the S&P 500, which is down), so this scenario would not have worked: https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucebrumberg/2024/01/12/stakes...
Indeed, seems like it taxi'd into the grass. Could be pilot error, or mechanical, I guess.
Considering United has had 3 accidents in the past week, dogpiling Boeing for something that might not be their fault has the side effect of potentially letting United off the hook - if they're at fault. Which maybe both are, or maybe neither are, but the dogpile won't help sort that out.
Unfortunately, this would have the side effect of destroying America's only viable commercial aviation company - there likely would not be a successor without heavy government bailouts.
All these safety issues, might be 'minor'. What we can see.
But having a big up-tick, and you wonder about the 'big-one' about to happen, that is still the submerged part of ice-berg.
Major malfunctions are not the norm on airlines.
The engine fire I'm not sure about, it being a 21yo plane.
Give the NTSB some time for proper reports...
Except they do when airline safety is trending in the news. In 2019, the NTSB registered 40 accidents involving damage to a major air carrier or injury to a passenger. That is about 1 major event every 10 days. It's been 18 days since the last major event (door blowing off).
https://www.ntsb.gov/safety/StatisticalReviews/Pages/CivilAv...
This title implies an order of events that is wrong. It exited the runway likely too fast, went down a small grass embankment, and only then did the [left] "Landing gear fail."
See pictures here:
https://avherald.com/h?article=515e3618&opt=0
The article's actual title is more helpful:
> Boeing 737 Max 8 ran off Texas runway into grass
This happens semi-regularly. It is a huge PITA when a larger aircraft does it, since it can shut down runways or taxiways for half an hour or more. Happens a lot with snow, in particular as that can obscure the edge.
"Interesting recordings" are available for download here: https://www.liveatc.net/recordings.php
Direct mp3 link for the incident in question: https://forums.liveatc.net/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=1...
But these (so far) seem unrelated and would be unreported if it weren't for all the excitement around Boeings.
See this report about something similar but for Airbus, released by a notoriously harsh Airbus commentator: https://safetyfirst.airbus.com/landing-with-nosewheels-at-90...
;O
I'm not suggesting this wasn't UA's fault, I'm saying the nature of fault is complicated and currently unidentified.
Because of how messed up Boeing is right now the initial reaction from casual observers is usually to blame Boeing, which may not actually be fair in this case.
> Records show the plane was delivered from Boeing to United 22 years ago.
This is a 20-year old 777, not a 737 MAX. Where did the title change come from?
Tire falls off United plane after takeoff from SFO
https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/san-francisco/united-p...
> The number of deaths per passenger-mile on commercial airlines in the United States between 2000 and 2010 was about 0.2 deaths per 10 billion passenger-miles. For driving, the rate was 150 per 10 billion vehicle-miles: 750 times higher per mile than for flying in a commercial airplane.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transportation_safety_in_the_U...
I'll take 1:750 odds.
General media just like to produce headlines...
Of course a door plug or manoevering system should not become a weak spot. And systematic failures of gears would also need attention. But a gear of a 737, a wheel of a 777 and an engine stall of yet another type have nothing to do with each other.
"A United Airlines Holdings aircraft ran off the taxiway into a grassy area after landing at Houston Friday, the third incident this week involving the airline's Boeing planes. From a report:
United Flight 2477, with 160 passengers and six crew, had just landed at George Bush Intercontinental Airport about 8 a.m. local time Friday when it veered into the grass on a turn. No one was injured, and passengers left the plane on a set of stairs before being bused to the terminal, the airline said.
The incident follows the mid-air loss of a tire from a United Boeing 777-200 Thursday, just after the plane took off from San Francisco on a flight to Osaka, Japan, and an engine fire on a United flight from Houston to Fort Myers, Florida, earlier this week. The plane in the Houston-to-Florida flight had to make an emergency landing after one of its engines burst into flames 10 minutes after takeoff. The 21-year-old aircraft was also a 737 -- but an earlier version than the Max, according to FlightRadar24. "
That said, Boeing lack-of-engineered themselves into this situation and I have zero sympathy.
> US NTSB probes 'stuck' rudder pedal issue on Boeing 737 MAX 8 flight
> The safety board reported the captain said that during the landing rollout, the phase just after touchdown, the rudder pedals did not move in response to "normal" application of foot pressure while attempting to maintain the runway centerline.
https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/us-ntsb-p...
Management is being reckless with shareholder value by not doing that.
