Another near-mid-air disaster involving a Boeing 737-8EH was narrowly averted. The incident occurred last weekend in South Africa as the narrow-body airliner traveling from Johannesburg to Cape Town lost a wheel and was forced to make an emergency landing.
South African budget carrier FlySafair operated the 737. According to the aviation blog AirLive, one of the plane’s main gear wheels separated during takeoff from Johannesburg.
Following the wheel separation, the 737 descended from 22,000 feet and returned to the airport.
The incident comes days after whistleblower Sam Salehpour’s testimony on Capitol Hill, in which he accused Boeing of “putting out defective airplanes.”
The 737’s wheel separation adds to a growing list of recent mid-air incidents involving Boeing jets, which include collapsed landing gear, detached door plugs, engine fires, external covers ripping off, and other cases of wheels coming off. This incident underscores the mounting confidence crisis surrounding Boeing jets.
