American Airlines: Boeing 777 plane forced to make emergency landing due to 'mechanical problem'

An American Airlines Boeing 777 plane was forced to make an emergency landing at LAX Airport after a “mechanical problem”. The incident occurred last night (Wednesday 13 March) at around 8.45pm with the aircraft carrying 249 people. 

Flight AA 345 was arriving from Dallas Fort Worth and landed in Los Angeles. The aircraft taxied along the runway and all passengers and crew onboard were able to disembark.

It marks the sixth safety incident with a Boeing aircraft in the last 10 days. On Monday (11 March) a United Airlines Boeing 777 was forced to make an emergency landing after suffering a mid-air fuel leak. A video posted on social media shows the aircraft taking off from Sydney Airport in Australia with the “hydraulic leak” that can be seen on the “right main landing gear”.

The aviation giant has been under intense scrutiny after a door plug blew out of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 jet moments after take-off on 5 January. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) promptly grounded this fleet of aircraft but now the planes are back in service. 

John Barnett, a former quality manager at Boeing, raised concerns about the aircraft being back in service again so quickly. He told TMZ Live on Wednesday, 31 January that he is “concerned” about the aircraft being back up in the air as jobs are “not being completed properly”.

Mr Barnett was in the middle of blowing the whistle against the firm over safety issues, however he was found dead in the US. The Charleston County coroner confirmed his death to the BBC on Monday (11 March). It said the 62-year-old had died from a "self-inflicted" wound on Saturday (9 March) and police were investigating.

An American Airlines spokesperson said that the American Airlines flight 345 with service from Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) to Los Angeles (LAX) "landed safely and without incident in LAX after the pilots reported a possible mechanical issue." The spokesperson added: "The aircraft taxied to the gate under its own power and customers deplaned normally."