The troubled Boeing 737 Max 8 airliner, that has recorded two tragic crashes in five months, was in the news again as it made an emergency landing shortly after takeoff from Orlando, Florida.
According to a report by UPI, there were two persons- the pilots- on board Southwest Airlines Flight 8701 when it took off around 3 p.m. from Orlando International Airport. They were taking the plane for storage in Victorville, California.
Rod Johnson, spokesman for the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, said the pilots experienced engine problems about 10 minutes after takeoff.
“The crew followed protocol and safely landed back at the airport,” a Southwest Airlines statement said.
The statement said the airline plans to move the plane to its Orlando maintenance facility for evaluation.
The Federal Aviation Administration was investigating the cause of Tuesday’s problems.
The incident comes two weeks after President Donald Trump ordered the FAA to ground all Boeing 737 Max 8 and Max 9 aircraft in the wake of two deadly crashes of the model.
A crash March 10 near Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, killed all 157 people on board. An Indonesian Lion Air flight in October killed 189. In both cases, the plane crashed shortly after takeoff.
Black box data from the Ethiopian Airlines crash showed “clear similarities” to the Lion Air Crash.
The data showed an erratic flight path during the 6 minutes that the plane was in the air before it crashed. According to the data, the plane ascended and descended and then ascended again, while traveling at speeds exceeding normal takeoff procedure.
A preliminary report about the causes of the Lion Air crash released in November showed the Boeing maneuvering characteristics augmentation system pushed the nose of the plane down, forcing the pilots to pull the nose back up more than a dozen times throughout the 11-minute flight.
Reported by UPI
