This Boeing passenger jet was forced to land in New York City shortly after takeoff when passengers noticed that a piece of its left wing had broken off.
China Eastern Airlines Flight 588 left New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport at 4:25pm local time on 12th August but circled United States airspace for a further three hours before touching down again at 7:25pm.
The missing spoiler component, which exposed the left wing’s internal machinery, was noticed shortly after takeoff, and the pilot decided to return to JFK airport out of concern for passenger safety, the Chinese airline said in a statement.
MU588, which was bound for Shanghai Pudong International Airport in East China, remained in the air in order to discharge fuel before landing safely, Fudan University professor Hou Yangfang told Chinese media.
According to Hou, who was on the flight, the Boeing 777 was carrying around 300 passengers, several of whom noticed the “missing part of the wing” shortly after takeoff.
Hou said the passengers remained “calm and cooperative” following the captain’s decision to fly back to JFK.
China Eastern said it had made arrangements – including a replacement flight to Shanghai – for all affected passengers and apologised for the inconvenience caused by the “malfunction”.
Chinese media reports that the aircraft’s missing wing spoiler component would not have caused a serious threat to flight safety, while adding that the airline took the most appropriate course of action by accommodating its passengers concerns.
China Eastern did not comment on how or when the spoiler piece might have fallen off during takeoff, or whether it had missing during preflight inspections.
Boeing have come under close scrutiny and pressure after two of its 737 MAX aeroplanes crashed killing all 346 passengers, reportedly due to a malfunction of its MCAS flight control system.
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Story By: John Feng, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Asia Wire Report
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