I wasn’t going to write a story about it, but I feel that some balance may be needed compared to how I saw this incident portrayed in the media. My mom even asked me about this story yesterday, because she saw it on the news – “did you hear about the Boeing 737 MAX that had the emergency?”
Air Canada 737 MAX swerves due to engine problems
Aviation regulators around the world are beginning to take the Boeing 737 MAX off the ground, meaning airlines are taking these planes out of storage and preparing to put them back into service.
As of February 24, 2020, one of Air Canada’s 737 MAXs has been stored at the Pinal Airpark in Marana, Arizona. The climate there makes it an ideal place to store long-term planes.
The plan was for the plane with the registration code C-FSNQ to fly from Marana to Montreal with flight AC2358 on December 22, 2020, so that it could begin preparations for returning to service.
Well, the plane left as scheduled with a crew of three, but then some problems occurred. As noted by The Aviation Herald:
- The crew received an indication of low hydraulic pressure from the left engine; the crew worked on checklists and consulted dispatch and maintenance, and decided to continue the flight to Montreal with just one engine
- Shortly thereafter, the crew received an indication of a fuel imbalance on the left, at which point the crew shut down the engine
- The crew then declared a “PAN PAN” (meaning that the situation was urgent, but not an immediate danger) and diverted to Tucson, Arizona
- The plane landed in Tucson 80 minutes after its initial departure, which was from an airport just 35 miles away
- The plane is still on the ground in Tucson at the moment
Air Canada 737 MAX flight path diverted
Is this situation important?
Looking at Facebook comments from mainstream media articles on this, most people seem to suggest that the 737 MAX should be taken out of service and never fly again. After all, how could the plane have a serious problem so soon after returning to service?
This does not really reach the nuance of this situation:
- The 737 MAX was not grounded due to engine problems, but due to problems with the maneuvering characteristics increase system (MCAS), which was intended to improve the aircraft’s tilt stability; in other words, this was a problem unrelated to why the 737 MAX was grounded in the first place
- Commercial aircraft have engine problems that cause deviations every day and it is almost never news because it is very common and no one is in danger
The 737 MAX will now face much more analysis than other aircraft in the coming months, and for good reason. Public confidence in the 737 MAX is low and will only return when the aircraft operates as designed without problems for many months / flights. But it’s also not surprising that whenever something happens, no matter how serious, the 737 MAX will be on the news.
Although we do not know the cause of this incident, it is likely that this has more to do with the plane having been stored for so long, than anything about the 737 MAX as such.
Although mechanics do a great job of putting planes back into service after prolonged storage, I still suspect that we will see some incidents in the coming years (I hope nothing very serious) involving planes that have just left long-term storage.
For example, earlier this year, there was an incident in which an Airbus A321 from Wizz Air UK had an aborted takeoff at high speed because a pitot tube was blocked due to insect activity. This occurred after the plane was stored for several months due to the pandemic. I suspect it will not be the last time that something like this will happen.
Result
An Air Canada 737 MAX transported to Montreal suffered some engine problems after taking off in Arizona, causing a detour. Although it obviously looks bad for Boeing when a 737 MAX has any kind of problem, personally I wouldn’t read much about it.
This is different from the problem that landed the 737 MAX in the first place, and it is more likely that it has to do with the plane not flying for a long time, and not with anything related to the “MAX”.
But I’m also not surprised that the 737 MAX is likely to be on the news whenever there is an incident, no matter how small.
What do you think of this Air Canada 737 MAX incident?