A Boeing 747 cargo plane of the US airline Atlas Air made an emergency landing Thursday night in Miami, after a problem with one of its engines shortly after takeoff, the company reported on Friday. The plane “landed safely after experiencing an engine malfunction shortly after departure,” an Atlas Air spokesperson said in a statement.
The US Civil Aviation Regulatory Agency (FAA) confirmed the incident that occurred around 03:30 GMT on Friday on this flight bound for Puerto Rico and initiated an investigation. Its sister company specializing in transportation safety, the NTSB, has also opened an investigation. He simply indicated that he was “gathering information to evaluate and determine the scope of the investigation” to be carried out.
For its part, aircraft manufacturer Boeing assured that it “supports (its) customer” and said that it would “cooperate in the NTSB investigation into this incident.” GE Aerospace, manufacturer of the four Genx-2B engines mounted on Atlas Air’s 747 freighter, “is offering technical assistance to the FAA and the (NTSB) in their investigations into the incident,” a spokesperson for this subsidiary told AFP. The American conglomerate General Electric, ensuring that security is its “first priority.”
Two weeks after the incident on an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9
Boeing is already being investigated by the FAA for a possible failure in its quality controls, after an incident that occurred on January 5. That day a boarded-up cabin door of a Boeing 737 MAX 9 came loose during an Alaska Airlines flight from Portland, Oregon to Ontario, California. The incident caused some minor injuries and the plane was able to land safely at its original airport. The FAA has ordered the Boeing 737 MAX 9 to remain grounded until further notice in the United States.
This is the first major in-flight problem for a Boeing since the fatal 737 MAX 8 crashes in 2018 and 2019, which killed 346 people and caused a prolonged grounding of all 737 MAX family aircraft. in the world. But the aircraft manufacturer has been experiencing a series of comings and goings with this model for several months, particularly in the fuselage, reporting in particular a problem in the rear watertight bulkhead. At the end of December it warned of the risk of a “loose bolt” in the rudder control system. At around 18:15 GMT, Boeing shares gained 0.30% on the New York Stock Exchange.
Source: BFM TV
