Southwest Boeing 737 Substantially Damaged After Rare “Dutch Roll” Maneuver

This recent, remarkable situation comes as many controversies have hit the air amid ongoing worries over plane safety.

Now, we’re learning more about what exactly happened during this situation — and how the jet has found itself in substantial damage because of the maneuver.

According to the FAA, all of this damage comes from the Dutch roll incident — and nothing else. This very rare maneuver can be incredibly detrimental to planes when they are in the air.

Ken Byrnes, the chairman of the Flight Department at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, explained, “Dutch roll is an oscillatory motion characterized by a combination of rolling and yawing of an aircraft. It typically arises when the combination between the lateral (roll) and directional (yaw) dynamics of the aircraft are out of balance.”

Byrnes continued, “In Dutch roll, the aircraft experiences a rolling motion primarily driven by the design (dihedral effect) of the wings, while simultaneously yawing due to the adverse yaw effect caused by the sideslip angle. This coupled motion results in a dynamic instability where the aircraft oscillates in both roll and yaw directions.”

In the most serious situations, Dutch rolls have caused planes in the past to break apart while in the air in flight.

The tail section was substantially damaged. A standby PCU only becomes operable as a backup system if the main rudder power unit stops working.

Now, an investigation is underway to analyze these damages and issues — and to find out why this may have happened. The FAA has revealed it is working with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and Boeing during its investigation.

The agency said, “The NTSB’s Vehicle Recorder Laboratory in Washington has received data downloaded from the airplane’s digital flight data recorder. Data from the recorder will aid investigators in determining the length and severity of the event. The cockpit voice recorder, which is currently limited to two hours of audio, was overwritten and unavailable to investigators. A preliminary report is expected within 30 days of the date of the event.”

This comes after various flights have resulted in many passengers having severe — and even life-threatening — injuries after plane turbulence.

During this hectic period, the plane dropped more than 160 feet in less than four seconds. Other flights have also seen difficult turbulence that has caused injuries in the past few months.

Many planes have suffered from technical or mechanical failures, resulting in various emergency landings seen throughout the nation, and the world. Intent public attention on air travel began at the beginning of the year when an Alaska Airlines flight had its door plug fall off while in the air.

The incident of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 prompted a probe by the Justice Department and brought criticism of plane safety into the public consciousness this year.

“How many government contracts does Boeing have currently? How closely are those contracts being monitored by government contract and technical personnel? Not enough I’d bet,” said an X user in January.

“The Jan. 5 Boeing 737-9 MAX incident must never happen again. Accordingly, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is announcing additional actions to ensure every aircraft is safe. The FAA today informed Boeing it will not grant any production expansion of the MAX, including the 737-9 MAX,” said the FAA in a statement released on January 24.

“We grounded the Boeing 737-9 MAX within hours of the incident over Portland and made clear this aircraft would not go back into service until it was safe,” FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said. “The exhaustive, enhanced review our team completed after several weeks of information gathering gives me and the FAA confidence to proceed to the inspection and maintenance phase.

“However, let me be clear: This won’t be back to business as usual for Boeing. We will not agree to any request from Boeing for an expansion in production or approve additional production lines for the 737 MAX until we are satisfied that the quality control issues uncovered during this process are resolved,” said Whitaker.

On Tuesday, CNN reported on a whistleblower allegation that asserted Boeing hid parts from regulators that might have eventually gone on to be installed in this plane model.

“We are reviewing the claims,” said Boeing in a statement. “We continuously encourage employees to report all concerns as our priority is to ensure the safety of our airplanes and the flying public.”

While this is a large figure, the number of 737 Max model planes only makes up about 4% of that amount.

“Much has been said about Boeing’s culture. We’ve heard those concerns loud and clear,” said Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun on Monday. “Our culture is far from perfect, but we are taking action and making progress. We understand the gravity, and we are committed to moving forward.”

Airliners have been unable to get planes they had ordered because of reduced production, resulting in higher rates for airline passengers.

“From a consumer standpoint, with demand strong and supply relatively weak, that’s a recipe for higher airfares,” said Richard Aboulafia, flight industry expert and director of AeroDynamic Advisory.

“We’re deliberately going to slow to get this right, and we’re the ones who made the decision to constrain rates on the 737 program,” West said.