March 7 (UPI) — The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating another issue involving a Boeing 737 MAX aircraft after a flight crew last month reported “stuck” rudder pedals.
The incident involved United Airlines Flight 1539, which touched down in at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey on Feb. 6, the NTSB said Thursday.
The captain of the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft said that, during the landing rollout, the rudder pedals became “stuck” and would not respond to foot pressure.
The rudder controls the airplane’s nose and is important to maintain the runway center. The captain instead used the nose wheel steering tiller to keep the plane near the runway center while slowing to a safe taxi speed, according to the NTSB.
The captain said the rudder pedals then began to operate normally.
None of the 161 people aboard the flight were injured, and the plane was able to return to the gate, according to the NTSB.
United Airlines removed the plane from service for maintenance and troubleshooting. Maintenance crews said they were able to “duplicate the reported rudder system malfunction” during a test flight three days later.
The NTSB said an inspection found no obvious malfunctions. After removing some rudder system components, United conducted a second test flight and found the rudder controls operated normally.
Boeing responded to the incident in a statement obtained by NBC News: “We worked closely with United Airlines to diagnose the rudder response issue observed during two 737-8 flights in early February. With coordination with United, the issue was successfully resolved with the replacement of three parts and the airplane returned to service last month.”
This was the first report of a rudder pedal issue in Boeing’s 737 MAX fleet, but it’s not the first issue involving aircraft in the fleet.
Boeing’s MAX airliners came under scrutiny after the door panel blew out on an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 in January.
The incident prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to ground all Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft in the United States and raise oversight into the company.
Frustrations are mounting for United Airlines, one of Boeing’s biggest customers. The airline on Thursday said it will pause new pilot hiring for the spring due to aircraft delivery delays from Boeing.
New hire classes are paused in May and June, and some will resume in July, vice president of flight operations Marc Champion and vice president of flight operations, planning and development Kirk Limacher said in a staff memo obtained by CNBC.
United was contracted to receive 43 Boeing 737 MAX 8 and 34 MAX 9 models this year, but now only expects to get 37 and 19 of them, respectively. The airline also expected to receive 80 MAX 10s this year but now doesn’t expect to receive any of them.
The MAX 10 has not yet been FAA-certified and is years behind schedule.
United CEO Scott Kirby has voiced his frustration with Boeing and said the airline will move forward with a fleet plan that does not include the MAX 10.
“I think this is the straw, the MAX 9 groundings, probably the straw that broke the camel’s back for us,” Kirby told CNBC in January. “We’re going to at least build a plan that doesn’t have the MAX 10 in it.”
