FAA Investigates Flight That Experienced “Dutch Roll”

CBS News reports:

Federal officials said Thursday they’re investigating an unusual rolling motion on a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 that might have been caused by a damaged backup power-control unit.

The Federal Aviation Administration said it’s working with Boeing and the National Transportation Safety Board to investigate the incident on a May 25 flight from Phoenix to Oakland. Southwest says it’s working with the FAA and Boeing.

The FAA said the plane went into a “Dutch roll,” the name given to the combination of a yawing motion when the tail slides and the plane rocks from wingtip to wingtip — a motion said to mimic the movement of a Dutch ice skater.

Read the full article.

The FAA’s probe may be stymied because the just-reported incident happened two weeks ago and the flight data recorder has since been overwritten.

Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 Max goes into “Dutch roll” during Phoenix-to-Oakland flight https://t.co/TnhZE3X9Mq

— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) June 14, 2024