Passengers onboard a United Airlines flight that landed at George Bush International Airport in Houston Friday morning had to evacuate the plane when it tilted and “rolled onto the grass” from the taxiway, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
A passenger on board United flight 2477, which departed from Memphis, Tennessee, told ABC13 that he heard a “huge pop” when the aircraft tilted on its side with the left wing touching the ground.
“Seems like we were making a turn,” he said. “The plane was going a little too fast and just slid off. That’s what I took it as.”
Passengers had to deplane the Boeing 737 Max 8 using emergency air stairs and were bused to the terminals, the airline told USA TODAY in a statement. No one was injured in the incident.
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Richard Levy, an aviation expert with 41 years of experience flying for a major international airline, told USA TODAY that, according to early reports, the pilots were approved for a long landing and to keep their speed up because another aircraft was landing shortly behind them. The turn onto the exit taxiway was likely too fast, which added stress to the landing gear, which collapsed and probably caused the popping sound people heard.
This type of incident “is very rare,” Levy said, adding that the grass was possibly the “saving grace” that prevented any fires if the wing were to scrape the cement.
“We are…
