American B38M near Nassau on Mar 29th 2021, pitch trim issue/failure

Last Update: March 30, 2021 / 22:35:08 GMT/Zulu time

Bookmark this article
Incident Facts

Date of incident
Mar 29, 2021

Classification
Incident

Airline
American Airlines

Flight number
AA-987

Departure
Miami, United States

Destination
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Aircraft Registration
N302SA

Aircraft Type
Boeing 737-800MAX

ICAO Type Designator
B38M

An American Airlines Boeing 737-8 MAX, registration N302SA performing flight AA-987 from Miami,FL (USA) to Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) with 135 passengers and 6 crew, was enroute at FL330 about 30nm south of Nassau (Bahamas) when the crew reported a pitch trim issue, pitch trim failure and decided to return to Miami. The aircraft began its descent towards Miami while turning back. The crew requested a long final (15nm) and landed safely on Miami's runway 09 about 50 minutes after turning around. The crew advised after roll out no further assistance was needed and taxied to the apron.

A replacement Boeing 737-8 MAX registration N339SU reached Santo Domingo with a delay of 3.5 hours.

The FAA reported they are going to investigate the occurrence but referred to the airline for further details.

The airline released following statement:

American Airlines flight 987, with service from Miami (MIA) to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (SDQ), reported a possible mechanical issue after departing MIA on March 29. The aircraft landed safely at MIA without incident and taxied to the gate on its own power. All customers deplaned normally, and there were no reported injuries to any customers or crew. A replacement aircraft was used to fly our customers to SDQ while our maintenance team evaluated the original aircraft.

Additional background:

- The aircraft was a Boeing 737 MAX with 135 passengers and six crew members.
- A component of the main electric trim system became inoperative. Our pilots ran the appropriate checklist, which included manually trimming the aircraft. They returned to MIA and landed uneventfully. The issue was not related to MCAS.
Incident Facts

Date of incident
Mar 29, 2021

Classification
Incident

Airline
American Airlines

Flight number
AA-987

Departure
Miami, United States

Destination
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Aircraft Registration
N302SA

Aircraft Type
Boeing 737-800MAX

ICAO Type Designator
B38M

This article is published under license from Avherald.com. © of text by Avherald.com.
Article source

You can read 4 more free articles without a subscription.

Subscribe now and continue reading without any limits!

Subscribe
Are you a subscriber?
Login
Subscribe

Read unlimited articles and receive our daily update briefing. Gain better insights into what is happening in commercial aviation safety.

Compare our plans
Free newsletter

Want to know more and stay ahead? Get our free weekly newsletter and join 4844 existing subscribers.

By subscribing, you accept our terms and conditions and confirm that you've read our privacy policy.

Send tip

Support AeroInside by sending a small tip amount.

Send tip

Related articles

Newest articles

Subscribe today

Are you researching aviation incidents? Get access to AeroInside Insights, unlimited read access and receive the daily newsletter.

Pick your plan and subscribe

Partner

Blockaviation logo

A new way to document and demonstrate airworthiness compliance and aircraft value. Find out more.

Virtual Speech logo

Train yourself online in VR with the special course for aviation: "Crisis Communications: Airlines". Find out more.

Get updates

Never miss an article from AeroInside. Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter and join 4844 existing subscribers.

By subscribing, you accept our terms and conditions and that you've read our privacy policy.

AeroInside Blog
Popular aircraft
Airbus A320
Boeing 737-800
Boeing 737-800 MAX
Popular airlines
American Airlines
United
Delta
Air Canada
Lufthansa
British Airways