A United Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 veered off the runway at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas, on Friday, marking the latest in a series of safety incidents for the airline involving Boeing aircraft. The flight, carrying 160 passengers and six crew members, left the pavement and entered a grassy area while exiting the runway after landing.
United Airlines confirmed that all passengers safely deplaned using air stairs and were transported to the terminal by bus. The incident follows a week of safety issues for the carrier, including a tyre falling off a Boeing 777 shortly after takeoff from San Francisco International Airport on Thursday, and an engine fire on a Boeing 737-900 earlier in the week.
In Thursday's tyre incident, a tyre from the left main landing gear of a Japan-bound Boeing 777 fell into a staff parking lot, damaging a car and a fence. The flight, carrying 235 passengers and 14 crew, landed safely in Los Angeles. The Federal Aviation Administration has launched an investigation.
Earlier, passengers on a United flight from Houston to Fort Myers, Florida, witnessed flames from an engine 20 minutes after takeoff. The Boeing 737-900 made a safe emergency landing. Experts suggest the issue was a compressor stall, not an engine fire.
These incidents add to Boeing's ongoing safety concerns, following a door plug blowout on a 737 Max 9 in January and previous crashes of Max 8 jets in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people. Boeing has declined to comment, referring inquiries to United Airlines.
