Polish investigators have disclosed that a Malta Air Boeing 737 Max 8-200 experienced an engine shutdown, apparently after a sun visor detached in the cockpit.
Investigation authority PKBWL states that the incident involved a service from Krakow to Milan’s Bergamo airport on 8 December.
The aircraft departed runway 25 but – a few minutes after take-off, at about 8,000ft – the crew observed an engine shutdown after the sun visor “detached” and the “engine start lever was struck”.
In response the crew stopped the climb at 10,000ft while maintaining their heading, and issued a ‘pan pan’ urgency call to air traffic control.
But after a successful engine restart, the crew cancelled the call and continued to the destination.
PKBWL has not stated which of the aircraft’s CFM International Leap-1B engines was affected nor elaborated on the sequence of events.
It has not indicated how the visor was attached prior the event, nor explicitly stated whether it hit the engine controls, or whether other circumstances contributed to the shutdown.
Meteorological data for Krakow at the time of the event, 13:20, shows ‘CAVOK’ conditions – good visibility and no low cloud – and the sun would have been positioned to the south, on the captain’s side.
The authority identifies the aircraft involved as 9H-VUE.
PKBWL states that Maltese accident investigators are probing the occurrence. Malta Air is a division of budget operator Ryanair Group.
