United Airlines pilots said pedals that control rudder movement on the plane were stuck as they tried to keep the plane in the center of the runway during the Feb. 6 landing.
The pilots were able to use a small nose-gear steering wheel to veer from the runway to a high-speed turnoff. The rudder pedals began working again as the pilots taxied to the gate with 155 passengers and six crew members on the flight from Nassau, Bahamas, according to a preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board.
Boeing said this is the only rudder-response issue reported on a Max, although two similar incidents happened in 2019 with an earlier model of the 737 called NG or next generation, which has the same rudder-pedal system.
The manufacturer said the issue was fixed by replacing three parts. The plane has made dozens of passenger-carrying flights since then, according to data from FlightAware.
Thinking back on what I worked with, it was far more impressive than I realized at the time. We had 15 foot custom cables to connect the 125+ pin flight computer (four of them) to our test system. The test system also controlled the environment chamber, which had like 90 minute cycles from -70C to 50C but it also had a vibration table that has incredible acceleration. I believe it could reach near vacuum, and pressurize, I don’t remember how much.