Boeing 737 Max 8 makes an emergency landing after an engine problem
A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft made a safe emergency landing in Orlando, Florida, after experiencing an engine problem on Tuesday.
Luckily no passengers were on board the plane as it was being ferried from the Orlando International Airport to Victorville, California for short term grounding.
This comes after the global 737 Max fleet were grounded indefinitely on March 13 following two fatal crashes involving the model in March 2019 (Ethiopian Airlines) and October 2018 (Indonesia’s Lion Air).
According to CNN, the airline officials said that the two pilots aboard the flight reported a performance issue with one of the engines shortly after take off but they followed protocol and safely landed the plane back at the airport.
The aircraft will be moved to the Orlando maintenance facility for review as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) investigates further.
Although the cause of the crashes are yet to be determined, FAA says the emergency was not related to the anti stall software that is suspected to be the main cause of the Ethiopian Airlines Crash which killed 157 passengers on board and the Lion Air flight that killed 189 passengers.
Boeing and the FAA said they are working on an upgrade of the planes’ software to deal with the safety feature.
