 |
| Southwest 737 Max aircraft in storage |
A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft had to make an emergency landing at Orlando after the pilot reported an engine failure just after takeoff from the same Florida airport on Tuesday, 26th March.
According to the airline, the aircraft was performing a ferry flight from Orlando to the Victorville, California for storage when the incident occurred at around 1430 yesterday. The right engine failed and the pilot requested to make a return to the airport where it landed without incident. The jet was later moved to Southwest's maintenance facility at the airport.
According to the airline, just the captain and first officer were on the aircraft at the time. Once engineers fix the problem with the right-hand engine the airline says it will fly it to the Southern Californian storage facility also.
Orlando airport closed the runway following the emergency landing of the 737 Max 8 so that could inspect the surface for any debris that might have fallen from the aircraft. No other flights were impacted by the closure or the emergency landing.
This latest incident to befall the beleaguered Boeing 737 Max jet sounds like a routine issue, aircraft powerplants can fail for a number of reasons and crews elect to either return to the airport or divert to a nearer alternative airfield on a fairly regular basis. This emergency landing is getting more publicity than it would otherwise get because of the recent crashes of the same aircraft type. However, it has left many in the US wondering what the point of grounding the 737 Max aircraft is, when the US authorities still allow airlines to perform empty 'ferry flights' over populated areas. If the Southwest 737 Max at the heart of this incident experience the same issues as the Ethiopian Airlines or Lion Air suffered from, the jet would could have come down over Orlando with perhaps catastrophic results, all to save the airline a few dollars in parking fees.
