Watch: Boeing 737 Makes Emergency Landing In Japan Minutes After Take-Off
Flight 166, a 737 jet operated by United Airlines carrying 50 passengers, took off from Fukuoka Airport in southwestern Japan and headed for Guam – only to turn back minutes later when pilots declared an emergency.
A Boeing 737 passenger jet was forced to make an emergency landing shortly after departing from a Japanese airport. This marks the fourth such incident to impact the crisis-marred US aircraft maker in just three days.
The flight operated by United Airlines took off from Fukuoka Airport in southwestern Japan with 50 passengers on board bound for Guam. However, the journey was abruptly stopped when the pilots declared an emergency due to a malfunctioning wing flap, according to The Daily Mail. The report said that no casualties were reported as the plane safely landed back at Fukuoka around 11:45 am local time.
This incident comes after a Boeing 737-800 belonging to Corendon Airlines, based in Turkey, faced a tire burst after landing at Gazipasa airport near the coastal town of Alanya on May 9. It also comes a day after a harrowing scene in Senegal, where a Boeing 737-300 jet skidded off the runway during takeoff and caught fire, causing panic among the 78 passengers onboard.
Media reports and aviation experts said that questions loom over a separate incident involving a FedEx-operated Boeing 767 cargo plane, which made an emergency landing at Istanbul Airport after its front landing gear failed. Dramatic footage captured the nose of the plane skidding across the runway, trailing sparks and smoke.
These troubling events compound existing scrutiny surrounding Boeing, as the company grapples with safety concerns and the recent deaths of two whistleblowers. Despite assertions that Boeing is not directly responsible for these mishaps, the series of incidents raises concerns for the aviation industry. The US Federal Aviation Administration has initiated a probe into Boeing’s practices following reports of falsified inspection records at a South Carolina plant.