The suggestion for pilots (the flight manual tells pilots) to “use maximum force” to free a stuck rudder on the Boeing 737NG or MAX could be extremely risky, especially when you consider what happened to American Airlines Flight 587 over Jamaica Bay in 2001. In that accident, the first officer applied aggressive rudder inputs after takeoff, which caused the vertical stabilizer to snap off the aircraft. The excessive side-to-side rudder movements created more force than the stabilizer was designed to handle. Without the stabilizer, the plane crashed, killing everyone (265) on board.
Just like the Airbus A300 in the AA587 crash, the 737 MAX has limits on how much force its vertical stabilizer can handle. When Boeing tells pilots to stomp on the pedals to free a jammed rudder, they’re setting the stage for a potentially dangerous situation. If the rudder suddenly becomes unstuck, it could swing all the way to one side, causing an abrupt, extreme deflection. This could put massive stress on the vertical stabilizer—just like what happened on Flight 587. The stabilizer might not be able to handle the sudden force, leading to structural failure or loss of control.
In simple terms, “pushing with maximum force” could make things much worse. Instead of solving the problem, it risks breaking the plane’s structure—a lesson we should have learned from AA587. The NTSB is right to be concerned, and Boeing needs to find a better solution than “just push harder.”