Southwest Airlines Forced to Make Emergency Landing While Moving 737 Max to California

A Southwest Airlines 737 Max, the plane grounded in the U.S. after two deadly crashes, was forced to make an emergency landing Tuesday at Orlando International Airport.Only two pilots were aboard the plane, which was being moved to California where Southwest is storing most of its grounded fleet. A spokesman for Southwest Airlines said the pilots encountered problems with one of the plane's engines about 10 minutes after takeoff around 3 p.m. "The crew followed protocol and safely landed back at the airport," the Dallas-based carrier said in a statement. The plane was scheduled to fly to Southern California Logistics Airport in Victorville, Calif., about 85 miles northeast of Los Angeles, for storage. Airlines are permitted by the Federal Aviation Administration to fly the grounded Boeing planes without passengers for storage or maintenance.Southwest said the plane will be moved to its Orlando maintenance facility for review. The FAA also said it's investigating but that it appears the emergency was not related to anti-stall software suspected in the two fatal crashes. Federal regulators are continuing to investigate deadly crashes involving the plane model in Ethiopia and off the coast of Indonesia. Boeing has invited more than 200 pilots, technical leaders and regulators for an informational session Wednesday in Renton, Washington, where the aircraft is built. Pilots from Southwest, the largest operator of the Max with 34 aircraft, were among those who met with Boeing last weekend to discuss the company's planned software fix, said Jon Weaks, president of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association.Boeing has asked owners of the Max to submit orders for a free update of anti-stall software implicated in the first crash, a sign that regulators are closer to approving a proposed fix that could get the planes flying again.Southwest began flying the planes over the weekend to the California facility to free up space at airports.Bloomberg and the Associated Press also contributed to this story.  Continue reading...