ARLINGTON- According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, Boeing has advised airlines via a memo to inspect cockpit seats on 787 Dreamliner jets in the wake of an incident earlier this week.
The incident involved a seat malfunction that caused a pilot to inadvertently interact with the controls, resulting in the aircraft experiencing a midair descent en route from Sydney (SYD) to Auckland (AKL), New Zealand. Consequently, some passengers who were not wearing seatbelts were thrown from their seats and collided with the aircraft’s ceiling.
LATAM Incident
Following the occurrence, approximately 50 individuals received treatment at the scene for predominantly minor injuries, while an additional 13 were hospitalized.
Most of those hospitalized were discharged shortly after, with only two requiring further medical attention, although their conditions were not deemed life-threatening.
LATAM Airlines (LA) stated that a “technical event during the flight” resulted in a “significant movement.”
As U.S. industry officials cited by the Wall Street Journal, a LATAM Airlines flight attendant inadvertently activated a switch on the pilot’s seat while serving a meal. This action led to the pilot being pushed into the controls, consequently causing the aircraft’s nose to descend.
This incident is among several recent events that have drawn attention to Boeing, including an incident involving an Alaska Airlines (AS) flight where a door plug blew off a Boeing 737 MAX 9 jet in January.
Boeing: Inspect 787 Cockpit Seats
According to a report by the WSJ, Boeing issued a memo to operators of 787 jets late Thursday, advising them to inspect cockpit seats for loose covers on the switches. The memo also provided instructions on deactivating power to the pilot seat motor if necessary.
The memo highlighted a potential issue where closing the spring-loaded seat back switch guard onto a loose or detached rocker switch cap could jam the rocker switch, leading to unintended seat movement.
Boeing is reportedly considering updates to its flight crew manuals in response to this issue. Although the memo acknowledged that this was a “known issue” for which Boeing issued a related service note in 2017, it did not specify whether the loose switch cover played a role in the LATAM flight incident.
Stay tuned with us. Further, follow us on social media for the latest updates.
Join us on Telegram Group for the Latest Aviation Updates. Subsequently, follow us on Google News.