HOUSTON — The National Transportation Safety Board released its preliminary report Thursday on the ongoing safety investigation into the United Airlines plane that veered off the runway at Bush Intercontinental Airport in March.
The United Airlines 2477 flight with six crew members and 160 passengers on board left Memphis on March 8 and landed at Bush Airport shortly before 8 a.m.
According to NTSB, the pilot requested to land on a different runway than the one told by Houston Approach Control because the initial runway was coded to be wet and slippery. The pilot said the runway he requested appeared dry, though his First Officer recalled that runway to be wet.
The crew said the landing was normal, but it's what happened after the touchdown that made the plane slide off the runway.
NTSB said the pilot did not disable the speed and auto brakes until about 5 seconds after the touchdown. The pilot claimed he did not "slow too much initially" because the runway appeared dry, he wanted to expedite their time on the runway and he preferred decelerating gradually for passenger comfort.
NTSB said manual braking didn't begin until 4,000 feet from the end of the runway. Once the captain was alerted that he only had 1,000 feet of runway left, he became concerned and began applying more pressure to the brakes, NTSB said. As he got to the end of the runway, the captain decided to turn onto the taxiway while still pushing aggressively on the brake pedals, data revealed.
While turning on the taxiway, the pilot felt the fuselage and brake pedals shake. While trying to get the shaking to stop, the plane slid off the runway, NTSB said. The left tires of the plane rolled into a manhole in a grassy area of the airport, causing the plane to come to a stop with its left wing tilted to the ground, NTSB reported.
Fortunately, no crew members or passengers were injured during this incident.
Photos and surveillance video taken during and after the incident indicated a wet runway and taxiway surface conditions, NTSB said.
NTSB said United hired the 61-year-old pilot in April 1987 and the First Officer, 38, was hired by United in October 2019.
This investigation is ongoing. You can read the full NTSB report below: