Posted on 01/01/2026 2:32:35 PM PST by DFG
Newly released surveillance footage captured the moment a United Boeing aircraft skidded off a wet runway in Texas as the pilot panicked in the cockpit.
The United Airlines Boeing 737-8 MAX veered off the tarmac after landing in Houston on March 8, 2024.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released a trove of documents on Wednesday with new details about the incident.
About 160 passengers were on board the flight that departed from Memphis, and there were no reported injuries. The incident is still under investigation, and the cause has not been determined.
Surveillance footage from George Bush Intercontinental Airport showed the Boeing aircraft unable to slow down on the run and skidding into the grass.
A transcript of cockpit audio also revealed the conversation between Captain Alireza Johartchi and first officer Michael Dickson during the incident.
As the plane touched down on the runway, Johartchi told Dickson, 'I'm gonna roll it to the end' before he apparently struggled to slow the plane.
'Oh my god, I can't believe that happened. God darn it. I am so sorry,' Johartchi said.
The captain apologized to Dickson several times and asked the flight attendants whether any passengers were injured.
Johartchi said, 'Can't believe I did this', 'Sorry, man, to get you into this mess,' and 'Oh God, this is crazy.'
He also told Dickson, 'I thought it was gonna stop. Dude, I am so frickin' sorry to get you in this. I am so sorry.'
An NTSB performance study determined the Boeing 737-8 MAX failed to decelerate sufficiently before trying to exit the runway, the Houston Chronicle reported.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
I agree. Didn’t really seem to get worked up from either side of the comms. Typical Daily Mail sensationalism.
Ain’t Affirmative Actin wonderful.
[Bob Newhart] Two pilots are bringing the plane in for a landing. The plane hits the runway. They don’t have enough room to stop and they smash into the terminal. One pilot turns to the other and says, “Man, that was a short runway.” The other pilot says, “But it sure was wide though.” [/Bob Newhart]
If Jean-Paul Sartre were still alive, upon hearing about this, he’d write “Boeing and Nothingness”.
[serendipity] http://cimrman.blogspot.com/2015/04/intellectual-jokes-doesnt-everyone-go.html [/serendipity]
🤣
Yeah, you really have to watch those ethnic jokes these days.
If Alireza Johartchi were Indian, he would have been so frickin’ sari.
I curry agree more.
Could not find one picture of the “captain”.
How is that dei shit working out for you united?
Shortly after WWII, an Alaskan bush pilot named Jim Dodson was landing at Nome. There was a 7,500-foot runway that was 500 feet wide. A 30-mph crosswind was blowing, so he landed across the runway, directly in front of the tower. 500-foot landings were routine for him.
The book where I read this (Glacier Pilot, by Beth Day) didn’t say what sort of aircraft Mr. Dodson was flying that day.
The demise of a once great airline started on Nov 9, 2009.
Happily Retired,
EC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2q8fBMpJ_kE
“The demise of a once great airline started on Nov 9, 2009.”
___________________________________________________________
Moving to Chicago to court Barak Hussein Obama didn’t pan out as planned.
Glad you survived all that EC.
“It’s a jet. They slow down by reversing thrust not by rubber on pavement.
Unless I’m wrong at which point someone could explain how planes land in the antartic.”
Jets are normally slowed by spoilers over the wings that pop up on touchdown specifically to dump lift and put the full weight of the aircraft in it’s main gear thus allowing the friction brakes the traction they need to work. They are also slowed but not stopped by reverse thrust which is half to 3/4 of the total braking effort on landing.
That said every jet by law must be able to come to a complete halt with zero engine or one engine idle trust from takeoff speed of V1 in the remaining runway distance. This set the design point for that aircraft’s maximum braking effort as the plane is at max takeoff weight during it’s testing as well. MTOW is always greater than maximum landing weight. Thus this stop is the most effort those friction brakes must endure.
Typically after a rejected takeoff the aircraft must be serviced as the carbon pads are white hot and sometimes catch fire it is normal for a rejected takeoff to be meet with fire suppression trucks and foam sprayed on the main gear to keep them from bursting into flame.
Every jet on dry ttarmac can land and stop using just it’s friction brakes by design for the two engine out dead stick landing every pilot dreads with only the RAT if you are lucky and your plane has one spinning, or the APU which can fail to light off or if you run to zero fuel then it’s RAT or die.
Wet tarmac is variable due to friction coefficients, landing weight, tire pressure vs tread depth vs water depth it’s not possible to compute it all you land and put the full weight in the gear and let the antiskid keep you straight as you use plenty if reverse thrust to slow to a speed where your friction brakes can bring you to taxi speeds for the turn off...This crew failed in that task they cut the thrust reverse too soon and didn’t have the traction coefficient to use the friction brakes from the speed they cut the thrust reverse off from.
Two words
Pilot error
Simple as that.
Bring a shovel.
Being able to take off and land short runways is a good skill to have regardless, but that was the preferred mode of travel in Alaska pretty early in the history of flight. Wiley Post built a plane / had it built for his work with Will Rogers, and per Kelly Johnson’s memoir, the design was nose-heavy because Post wanted to get airborne quickly. On the fatal flight it didn’t work out due to ice loading I think.
makes sense when you factor in the worst case they have to prepare for.
which begs the question, depending on ~2/3s of the braking coming from reversing the engines, you’re still leaning heavy on traditional brakes. what if you’re on ice and all but the minimal engines are out? those wheels won’t want to stop on ice using simple brakes.
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