Boeing 737 skids off runway into Florida river, no fatalities

Bloomberg

Boeing Co said it’s helping to investigate how a 737-800 plane arriving from Cuba slipped into a river after skidding off a runway near Jacksonville, Florida.
The chartered flight operated by Miami Air International Inc was carrying 136 passengers and seven crew when it left the runway at Naval Air Station Jacksonville on Friday evening, Boeing said in a statement. Authorities said there were no fatalities.
The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said it has sent a “Go Team” of 16 to investigate “the runway excursion” and was expected to hold a media briefing on Saturday, according to two Twitter posts.
The investigators have “expertise in aircraft operations, structures, powerplants, human performance, weather, airports and other areas,” the NTSB said. Boeing said it’s providing technical assistance at the request and under the direction of the NTSB.
While it isn’t clear yet what led to the plane ending up in the river, the incident comes as Boeing remains enmeshed in one of the biggest crises in its century-long history.
The plane maker has been on the defensive since its 737 Max planes crashed in Indonesia and Ethiopia, killing 346 people in a span of five months. The 737 Max plane has been grounded as the
company tries to convince airlines and regulators it will be safe once a software update is installed.
The chartered flight in the crash arrived from Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, according to Naval Air Station Jacksonville, in a post on its Facebook page.
Images show the plane partially submerged in the St. Johns River.

Some FAA inspectors found to lack training, says probe
Bloomberg

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) acknowledged that a whistleblower was correct in saying that some of its personnel were short on training, but says those people weren’t working on the Boeing 737 Max programme, as alleged by the Senate panel that launched a probe into the matter.
An agency review of whistleblower claims found some inspectors lacked required training, FAA Acting Administrator Daniel Elwell said in a letter to Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker, chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, after the panel’s questions about FAA personnel involved in the 737 Max approval.
“It is not accurate, however, to suggest that
this whistleblower disclosure and investigation implicated the qualifications of the Boeing 737 Max Flight Standardization Board,” Elwell wrote, referring to an agency group involved the certification process, in the letter released by the agency.
The inspectors in question worked on pilot certification of the Gulfstream GVII
aircraft.