NTSB issues urgent safety recommendations for Boeing 737 rudder after Newark incident

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The National Transportation Safety Board issued urgent safety advisories on Thursday about the possibility of the rudder control system jamming on some Boeing 737 planes following an incident on a United Airlines flight in February.

The NTSB is investigating an incident in which the rudder pedals of a United Boeing 737 MAX 8 became “stuck” in the neutral position during a landing in Newark. There were no injuries among the 161 passengers and crew.

United said the rudder control parts in question were used on only nine of its 737 planes originally built for other airlines. United said Thursday that all components were removed earlier this year.

The Federal Aviation Administration said it has been closely monitoring the situation and will on Friday “convene a corrective action review committee based on the NTSB's preliminary recommendations and determine next steps.”

The NTSB said there are no 737s in the United States operating with the affected actuators, which were installed on some previous-generation 737 MAX and 737 NG aircraft that had an optional landing system. According to the FAA, United was the only US operator to date to use the components.

The NTSB recommended Thursday that Boeing notify flight crews that the rudder control system may stall due to moisture that has accumulated and frozen in the actuators, and that Boeing “in addition to applying maximum control” for such situations in flight or landing Pedal force should also determine appropriate reactions from the flight crew.

It also recommended that the FAA decide whether to remove some actuators made by Collins Aerospace, a unit of RTX, from aircraft and stop using the planes until replacement units are installed. The FAA is also supposed to notify international aviation regulators if they decide the components should be removed.

According to the NTSB, Collins Aerospace determined that a bearing was incorrectly assembled during production of the actuators and said more than 353 actuators delivered to Boeing since February 2017 were affected by this condition.

Boeing said Thursday it is reviewing the NTSB recommendations and will ensure flight crews receive appropriate guidance.

The planemaker said in August that it had “notified 737 operators of a possible condition with the rudder extension guidance actuator, which is part of an optional autolanding system. The autolanding system includes layers of redundancy and we are working with our supplier to develop additional guidance.” Resolve the potential condition.

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RTX said it continues to “work closely with the NTSB and Boeing on this investigation. We support Boeing and operators in mitigating the operational impact.”

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Marguerita Choy and Jamie Freed)