According to azfamily.com, federal authorities disclosed Thursday that severe gusts probably harmed the tail section of an idle Southwest Airlines aircraft, an issue that stayed hidden until the plane underwent a strange rolling action during a trip from Phoenix to Oakland, California, flight more than two years ago.
Widespread attention followed when Southwest flight 746 encountered a “Dutch roll” mid-air on May 25, 2024. The National Transportation Safety Board’s concluding document noted that the Boeing 737 Max 8 sat parked overnight in New Orleans on May 16, 2024, amid thunderstorms featuring winds reaching 84 mph.
Storm Winds and Hidden Tail Damage in New Orleans
Officials stated that the gale force likely shifted the rudder, harming internal components of the tail fin supporting the auxiliary rudder apparatus. Because crews operated the aircraft on 38 separate journeys without any complaints regarding the rudder, the harm went undetected.
On the evening of May 23, the plane underwent scheduled maintenance. Mechanics missed that the rudder was out of position and signed off on the plane as having passed.
Disabled Yaw Damper Precedes Midair Rolling Motion
One day later, flight deck crew members suspected malfunctions involving the yaw damper—an automated mechanism that executes minor rudder adjustments preventing a tail from oscillating horizontally. The jet was then flown again the same day, this time with the system disabled.
Flying from Phoenix to Oakland at an altitude of 34,000 feet, and subsequently at 32,000 feet following a descent, the Southwest aircraft suffered a Dutch roll—characterized as a periodic, swaying fusion of side-to-side tail sliding and vertical wingtip rocking—at roughly 2:45 p.m. on May 25. The pilot landed the plane safely.
Inspection Gaps Identified by Federal Safety Investigators
Six crew members and 175 passengers were on board, and no one was hurt. Safety officials further noted that inspections would have successfully detected the impairment if Boeing had specified a threshold wind velocity triggering mandatory checks.
Furthermore, the investigation highlighted that the missed issue was also tied to whether Southwest Airlines maintained procedures alerting maintenance personnel whenever idle aircraft faced severe wind events.
