Travel

Boston flight makes emergency landing in Denver, raising more concerns about the Boeing 737

The incident comes after the FAA investigated the planes for safety.

Wilfredo Lee / AP, File

May 23, 2024

United Airlines confirmed that a flight from Boston to San Francisco on Tuesday morning made an emergency landing in Denver due to a potential mechanical problem, reigniting concerns about the safety of Boeing aircraft.

After the crew reported a possible mechanical issue, United Airlines Flight 625 landed safely at Denver International Airport at around 9:10 a.m. on Tuesday, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

United Airlines said the flight carried 177 passengers and seven crew members on a Boeing 737-9 MAX.

United Airlines arranged for another aircraft to take the passengers to their destination later that afternoon, the airline said in a statement.

The FAA is investigating the incident.

The emergency landing was the latest event to raise safety concerns about the Boeing 737. In January, an Alaska Airlines plane was grounded after a panel blew off mid-flight at 16,000 feet, forcing an emergency landing in Portland, Oregon. No one was seriously hurt.

Following the January incident, the FAA grounded all Boeing 737s with a plug door for a safety check and limited the production of 737s. An FAA audit of Being’s 737 factory near Seattle found multiple instances where the company failed to comply with manufacturing quality control requirements.

Earlier this month, the Associated Press reported that a 737 with 85 people aboard skidded off a runway in Senegal, and another 737 carrying 190 people had to be evacuated after one of its tires exploded during landing.

Boeing is a $78 billion company and a leading U.S. exporter in aircraft manufacturing.

The company’s reputation was damaged following two 737 Max jet crashes — one in Indonesia in 2018, the other in Ethiopia the following year — that killed 346 people.