U.S. News

Actions

United Boeing 737 Max 8 jet slides off Houston airport runway

Boeing Max jets have come under scrutiny, although it is unclear what exactly caused a plane Friday to leave the runway.
United flight rolls off runway in Houston after landing.
Posted at 1:50 PM, Mar 08, 2024

A United Airlines flight landing at Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport rolled off the runway Friday morning. No injuries were reported. 

The United Airlines flight from Memphis International Airport landed with 160 passengers and six crew members on board. The flight involved a Boeing 737 Max 8 jet.

Tire falls off Boeing plane after takeoff, smashes vehicles
One of the vehicles smashed by a tire that fell off a Boeing 777 plane after takeoff.

Tire falls off Boeing plane after takeoff, smashes vehicles

Moments after takeoff, the tire from the 777-200 plane fell on an airport parking lot below, causing extensive damage to several vehicles.

LEARN MORE

The Max fleet has faced scrutiny in recent years. 

Last month, an employee of Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems alerted the company that two holes may not have been drilled exactly to Boeing's requirements on 737 Max planes.

"While this potential condition is not an immediate flight safety issue and all 737s can continue operating safely, we currently believe we will have to perform rework on about 50 undelivered airplanes," the memo said.

In 2018 and 2019, two Boeing Max 8 passenger planes suffered crashes months apart, killing a total of 346 people. The problem was pinned to the plane's Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, or MCAS.

The Federal Aviation Administration was notified of Friday's incident.

"We are thankful for the actions of our crew to deplane all passengers safely. We will work with the NTSB, FAA and Boeing to understand what happened," United said.