WASHINGTON, Nov. 6, 2026 — The NTSB has released its final report (DCA24LA206) on Southwest Flight 746. On May 25, 2024, the 737 MAX 8 went into a Dutch roll between Phoenix and Oakland. The board blamed undetected storm damage, not a rudder design defect.
The event
- Aircraft: 737 MAX 8 N8825Q.
- On board: 175 passengers and 6 crew. Nobody was hurt.
- Date: May 25, 2024, Phoenix to Oakland.
What the NTSB found
- Probable cause: storm damage to the connection between the standby rudder power control unit and the vertical fin, which nobody found.
- When it happened: while the jet was parked at New Orleans on May 16, 2024, in gusts up to 73 knots (84 mph).
- Flights flown with the damage: about 38 to 44 before the event. Published accounts give different counts.
- Contributing factors:
- Southwest mechanics did the standby hydraulic test incorrectly during a May 23, 2024 check in Houston.
- Boeing’s maintenance manual has no wind-speed threshold that triggers an inspection.
- Southwest had no process to flag parked aircraft exposed to extreme wind.
- Rudder design: the NTSB did not cite a design defect.
- Investigators: with a wind threshold and an alert system in place, “the damage would have been caught.”
- Follow-up by Southwest or Boeing: TBA.
- Released: Nov. 5, 2026.
Why it matters to airline people
There’s no direct non-rev effect. The report matters to maintenance and operations teams, though. It points to parked aircraft exposed to high winds as an inspection gap. Any new wind-threshold inspections Boeing or operators adopt could affect MAX maintenance planning.
Sources
- AZFamily — NTSB details missed warning signs before ‘Dutch roll’ during 2024 Phoenix flight
- AeroCorner — NTSB Final Report: Southwest WN746’s Dutch Roll Came From Storm Damage on a Parked 737 MAX That Flew 44 Times Undetected
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