A United Airlines 737 MAX 8 appeared to land in Houston without issue, but shortly thereafter overshot the runway and came to a stop on the grass with the left landing gear collapsed. What happened?
United 737 MAX 8 Veers Off Runway And Onto Grass In Houston
Pictures and video show a Boeing 737 MAX 8 in Houston parked on the grass with a collapsed landing gear:
Someone sends: pic.twitter.com/ELX2oTACQy
— JonNYC (@xJonNYC) March 8, 2024
The aircraft, registration number, had just operated U2477 from Memphis (MEM) to Houston (IAH) on Friday, March 8, 2024 and arrived at Bush Intercontinental Airport over 30 minutes early.
Listening to the Air Traffic Control (ATC), it seems that the landing itself was uneventful. The pilot then asks to “roll it all the way to the end” and is given permission by ATC, though with the instruction to “keep your speed up.”
United Airlines Flight 2477 (Boeing 737 MAX 8) has suffered a left main landing gear collapse after trying to taxi off runway 27 at IAH airport in Houston, Texas. It’s unclear whether the gear collapsed as a result running off the taxi way or it failed. Another bad day for United… https://t.co/2GrKI4wRGS pic.twitter.com/uLxrpdrUYc
— Thenewarea51 (@thenewarea51) March 8, 2024
Final location of aircraft after the Runway excursion at the end of the Runway 27.#aircraft https://t.co/n4eGEZRLlB pic.twitter.com/bF8oO9wF7Q
— FL360aero (@fl360aero) March 8, 2024
Thus, we face a number of possibilities:
- Was this pilot error? Did the pilot misjudge his ability to quickly turn right at the end of runway 27?
- Did the instruction to “keep your speed up” (presumably because there was a plane landing behind UA2477) create an unsafe condition?
- Did the landing gear collapse first causing the plane to veer off the runway and onto the grass or did the landing gear collapse as a result of veering off the runway?
- Could another mechanical issue be involved?
One alleged passenger has placed blame on the pilot:
I was on this flight and I assure you, the landing gear didn’t fail. We were landed & fully upright. Pilot ran out of runway & tried to turn too fast, we slid off. That’s when landing gear was broken. Total coverup United.
— Andrea M (@AndreaM987654) March 8, 2024
But I think it is too premature to do that. We don’t know the cause (yet) and until we do, I think it reasonable to speculate about what may have happened, but not to point any fingers. It is especially disappointing to see people already blaming Boeing for this or claiming it is “just another” 737 MAX issue. That could be the case, I suppose, but it is far too early to say that.
Thankfully, everyone onboard was safe. A bus met the aircraft and transported the passengers to the terminal.
CONCLUSION
A United 737 MAX 8 slid off the runway in Houston this morning. No one was hurt, but a landing gear collapsed. The cause of the incident is not clear. While ATC audio suggests something happened after landing, we are going to have to wait until more facts emerge and would do well to avoid pointing the finger of blame just yet.
It has been a rough 24 hours for United…
image: @aviationbrk / X
Was that ATC audio in real time (not edited to shorten gaps?)
Like 1.5 seconds between the pilot saying have a good weekend and controller telling the other flight to go around because he’s in the grass.
One piece of speculation – they thought they were making a 45 degree taxi turn but it was a 90 degree intersection.
No sign of control distress during the roll.
@Greg … +1 . Agree : turn was unusually 90 degrees , rather than usual 45 degrees . Everyone is safe , so no compensation would be owed .
Maybe all that supplemental training on iPad created confusion on the already stressed and tired pilot.
In several YouTube videos, the flight deck has tablets with GPS maps of the airport, taxiways, runways, gates, etc.
Don’t think there was confusion on 45 degree vs 90 degree turn, Houston is a hub for UA. Flight crew would be familiar with the setup. As, no fog. More like distracted (lack of sterile environment) or excess speed.
Captain may be terminated and FO receive additional taxi training in order to re-qualify.
DEI?
One commentator on a blog I read noted the 737 has a tendency for their nose wheels to slide if the turn is taken too quickly, especially on contaminated (wet/ icy/ snowy) surfaces which was the case at IAH during this incident. It’s similar to what all of us can experience driving our vehicles in similar conditions.