Southwest 737 MAX 8 Flew 44 Times With Storm Damage Before Discovery

Southwest 737 MAX 8 Flew 44 Times With Storm Damage Before Problem Found

A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft completed 44 flights after sustaining storm damage. The damage went unnoticed until pilots experienced unusual movement during a flight. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) report details how high winds in New Orleans likely caused the issue, which was compounded by a missed inspection and an improperly performed maintenance test.

The incident occurred on Flight 746, traveling from Phoenix to Oakland with 175 passengers and six crew members. While at cruising altitude, the captain reported a slight “Dutch roll,” a combination of side-to-side rolling and yawing. The first officer also observed the tail moving back and forth. The aircraft landed safely, and no injuries were reported.

Storm Damage and Maintenance Issues

Investigators believe that strong winds during a thunderstorm in New Orleans, where gusts reached 84 mph, damaged components supporting the aircraft’s standby rudder system. The NTSB report, dated November 5, 2026, traces the damage to this event. However, the report does not specify who first discovered the physical damage to the aircraft.

A critical point in the timeline was a scheduled maintenance check on May 23, 2024. During this service, the standby hydraulic system underwent an operational test. However, maintenance personnel did not visually confirm the rudder’s movement during the test. This oversight was later highlighted when hangar footage revealed the rudder moving in one direction but not the other during the recorded test, which had been marked as passed.

Timeline of Flights Before Incident

The NTSB’s investigation established a clear timeline leading up to the in-flight anomaly. The aircraft was parked in New Orleans during thunderstorms on May 16, 2024, experiencing wind gusts up to 84 mph.

Following this event, the aircraft completed 38 flights between May 17 and May 23, 2024, with no reported rudder issues. After the maintenance test on May 23, where the rudder movement was not visually confirmed, the aircraft flew six more times. These two periods of flight account for the 44 trips where the storm damage remained undetected. The investigation also noted that no high-wind conditional inspection was performed after the storm.

The NTSB identified “the improper accomplishment of the standby hydraulic system operational test by Southwest Airlines maintenance personnel” as a factor that contributed to the incident.

Changes to Inspection and Maintenance Procedures

In response to the findings, Southwest Airlines conducted inspections of its entire 737 MAX fleet. The airline reported that no similar damage was found on other aircraft. Southwest has also updated its maintenance procedures to include more detailed sign-offs and specific steps for identifying aircraft that have been exposed to extreme wind conditions.

Boeing has also revised its maintenance instructions. The updated guidelines now require additional inspections for parked aircraft that have experienced winds of 75 mph or higher. These changes aim to improve the detection of potential damage from severe weather events. The investigation did not find evidence that the damage on this specific aircraft affected other Southwest planes. The NTSB report focuses on the findings of the investigation, including the missed warning signs during the maintenance test and the sequence of flights before the problem surfaced.

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