NTSB Issues “Urgent” Safety Warning About Potential Rudder Failure For Some Boeing 737s

The National Transportation Safety Board issued urgent safety recommendations on Thursday for the Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing to address “the potential for a jammed or restricted rudder control system” on specific 737 Max and NG jets. 

The origin of the recommendation stems from a mid-air incident earlier this year in which the rudder pedals – the pedals on the floor of a plane that looks like the brake and gas pedals of a car or truck but control the aircraft’s directional yaw – on a United Airlines Boeing 737-8 Max were “stuck” in the neutral position during the landing rollout at Newark Liberty International Airport, Newark, New Jersey. 

Rudder controls… 

After touching down, the United pilot used a nosewheel steering tiller to ensure the aircraft was not blown off the runway by crosswind. NTSB found one of the rudder control components, a rollout guidance actuator from Collins Aerospace, defective. In another incident, the actuator was found to be defective in a cold-weather environment. Collins notified Boeing that more than 353 actuators have been shipped to the company since 2017. 

“Boeing’s 737 flight manual instructs pilots confronted with a jammed or restricted rudder to ‘overpower the jammed or restricted system (using) maximum force, including a combined effort of both pilots,'” the NTSB wrote in the report. 

“The NTSB expressed concern that this amount of force applied during landing or rollout could result in a large input to the rudder pedals and a sudden, large, and undesired rudder deflection that could unintentionally cause loss of control or departure from a runway,” the statement said.

This marks yet another setback for Boeing in what has been a challenging year for the US-based aircraft manufacturer. Incidents have ranged from a mid-air door plug blowout in January to a series of mid-air mishaps across the country. Then, two weeks ago, there was a massive strike involving 33,000 unionized employees. 

With many of Boeing’s employees walking the picket line, who will fix the rudder control components??