NTSB urges airlines to address Boeing 737 issue affecting planes

This story was updated to include new information.
The National Transportation Safety Board has issued an urgent warning to airlines that fly the Boeing 737, saying a failure first seen on a United Airlines flight in February could cause problems on other planes. 
According to the NTSB, a piece of the rudder control system on 737 Next-Generation and 737 Max aircraft, the two most recent generations of the manufacturer’s bestselling plane, can lose functionality in cold weather. 
A United Airlines flight returning from Nassau, Bahamas, to Newark, New Jersey, on Feb. 6 had its rudder pedals stuck in the neutral positions during the landing roll. The NTSB said the captain was able to control the plane using its nosewheel steering system. No injuries were reported. 
Even so, the agency investigated and found problems with the plane’s rudder system.
The NTSB said in its statement Thursday:
The Federal Aviation Administration said United Airlines is the only U.S. operator that had the components, and “it is the FAA’s understanding that the units are no longer in service.”
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Collins Aerospace said more than 353 actuators assembled since 2017 were affected, according to the NTSB.
The NTSB directed Boeing to notify airlines of appropriate pilot responses if a similar incident occurs and to alert pilots “that the rudder control system can jam due to moisture that has accumulated inside the actuators and frozen.”
The agency also has recommended that the FAA “determine if actuators with incorrectly assembled bearings should be removed from airplanes, and if so, to direct U.S. operators to do so until replacements are available.”
The agency also said Thursday that it accepted NTSB’s recommendation. “As a party to the investigation, the agency has been monitoring this situation closely,” the FAA said in a statement. “Tomorrow, we will convene a corrective action review board based upon the NTSB’s interim recommendations and determine next steps.”
This is the latest headache for Boeing, which is under pressure from a machinists strike and increased regulatory pressure from Capitol Hill in the wake of an incident in January when an Alaska Airlines 737 Max lost a piece of the fuselage during a flight.