20/8/2024–|Last update: 8/20/202412:14 AM (Makkah Time)
U.S. aviation regulators have ordered airlines to inspect hundreds of Boeing 787 Dreamliners after a crash landing during a flight in March left dozens of passengers injured.
The US Federal Aviation Administration on Monday ordered pilot and co-pilot seats on certain 787-7, 787-9 and 787-10 aircraft to be inspected for missing or cracked keycaps and cracked or non-functional keycap assemblies within 30 days.
“Operators must also implement any necessary corrective actions,” the FAA said in a statement.
The regulator added that these directives affect 158 aircraft registered in the United States and 737 aircraft worldwide.
The directive comes after Chile’s aviation authority said earlier this year that initial investigations into the March 11 incident showed the pilot’s seat experienced an “involuntary forward movement” during the flight. About 50 passengers were injured when LATAM Flight 800 suddenly plunged 400 feet (120 meters) while en route to Auckland, New Zealand, from Sydney, Australia.
“The uncontrolled horizontal movement of the pilot’s and co-pilot’s seats during the flight caused the autopilot’s control column input to disengage, resulting in a rapid descent until the co-pilot assumed control,” the FAA said in its advisory.
The US regulator said it had received four additional reports of the problem from Boeing in the wake of the incident, the most recent in June.
“Unwanted horizontal movement of an occupied seat can cause in-flight turbulence due to flight control inputs, which could result in a rapid descent of the aircraft and serious injury to passengers and crew,” the FAA said, adding that it was “issuing this announcement to address the unsafe condition of these products.”
Boeing said in a statement that it fully supports the directive “making it mandatory for 787 operators.”
This directive is the latest in a series of events aimed at drawing attention to safety issues at Boeing.
Last month, Boeing finalized a plea agreement to plead guilty to fraud charges after U.S. prosecutors concluded the company violated a deferred prosecution agreement over two deadly 737 Max crashes in 2018 and 2019.
The Arlington, Virginia-based aircraft giant also faces a separate criminal investigation into a January incident in which a 737 Max operated by Alaska Airlines lost part of its fuselage mid-flight.
