Southwest 737 MAX makes emergency landing, says computer system not to blame

 

A number of grounded Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft are shown parked at Victorville Airport in Victorville, California, U.S., March 26, 2019. REUTERS/Mike Blake/Files

 

(Reuters) - A Southwest Airlines Co Boeing 737 MAX 8 heading to the California desert for parking during a global ban of the aircraft made an emergency landing on Tuesday due to an engine-related problem shortly after take-off, the carrier said.

 

It did not have any passengers and the issue was not related to a computer system on the 737 MAX aircraft that has come under scrutiny following two fatal crashes, one on Lion Air and another on Ethiopian Airlines, since October, the airline said.

 

"The crew followed protocol and safely landed back at the airport," Southwest said in a statement.

 

Southwest Flight 8701 returned to Orlando International Airport just before 3 p.m. ET (1900 GMT) after pilots reported a performance issue with one of the engines, the airline said.

 

The flight was scheduled to fly from Orlando to a logistics airport in Victorville, California, near the Mojave desert, where Southwest began flying its fleet of 34 MAX jets for storage.

 

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration grounded the 737 MAX following the two crashes but has allowed airlines to conduct flights without passengers to move planes to other airports.

 

A Boeing spokesman said the company was "aware of the incident and supporting our customer."

 

Rather than fly to California, Southwest said the plane will be moved to an Orlando maintenance facility for review.

 

(Reporting by David Shepardson and Tracy Rucinski; editing by Grant McCool and Howard Goller)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-03-27

51 minutes ago, webfact said:

computer system not to blame

 

52 minutes ago, webfact said:

an engine-related problem

That's reassuring. 

Gotta keep the integrity of the computer system...

This is becoming like the infamous 'brake failure' mentioned in the TVF about the Thai road accidents!

North, East, South or West all are jokers in varying degrees!

 

...what do you expect them to say....???

 

...jeez....