Summary FAA mandates inspection of Boeing 787 cockpit seats, affecting 158 US planes and 737 worldwide. An issue related to the cockpit seat caused a sudden drop during a LATAM 787 flight earlier this year, injuring over 50 passengers. Despite recent problems, the Boeing 787 remains popular for fuel efficiency and modern tech, with hundreds in service globally.
The Federal Aviation Administration has mandated an inspection of all Boeing 787 aircraft worldwide for switches responsible for the movement of the pilots’ seats in the cockpit. This relates to the LATAM Dreamliner incident in which the aircraft faced a sudden drop after the captain’s seat inadvertently moved forward. New directive Boeing 787 Dreamliner operators around the world have been asked by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to inspect the seats of the captain and first officer on all three 787-8, 787-9, and 787-10 types for missing or cracked rocker switch caps or for cracked switch cover.
Airlines operating these planes have been asked to complete inspections within 30 days and perform any required corrective actions. According to Reuters , the directive affects 158 planes in the United States and 737 planes worldwide. The LATAM 787 incident The latest FAA order is in response to the LATAM Airlines incident in March this year in which a Boeing 787-9 aircraft, registered CC-BGG, faced a terrifying sudden drop at cruising altitude.
The plane was performing a 5th freedom flight between Sydney and Auckland, and the incident injured over 50 passengers, leaving many with severe injuries, with at least one person in critical condition. A preliminary report released by the authorities said that the captain’s seat moved forward , potentially causing the aircraft to suddenly lose altitude. The report confirmed that weather had no role in the incident, which occurred when the plane was flying at 41,000 feet.
Reports also suggested that a flight attendant accidentally hit a switch on the pilot’s seat during meal service in the cockpit. This caused the seat to move forward and push the pilot into the controls, eventually causing the plane to drop into a nose-down position. Soon after the incident, Boeing issued an advisory for airlines to inspect the switches on their Boeing 787 Dreamliner cockpit seats during their next maintenance check on the airplanes.
The FAA’s current directive is more urgent than that, requiring carriers to complete it within a month. Reuters states that the FAA has also received five reports from airlines related to the issue with the captain and first officer seats on 787s. The most recent of these came in June, and two of them are still being investigated by the agency.
Popular aircraft Despite some of the problems faced by the Boeing 787 Dreamliner over the years, it remains one of the most popular long-haul widebody jetliners. As of June 2024, more than 390 examples of 787-8, 621 of 787-9, and 97 of 787-10 are currently in service worldwide. Airlines like the Dreamliners because they are made up of 50% lightweight composites, which improve their fuel efficiency and aerodynamics, giving them an advantage over previous-generation planes.
Boeing says that the 787 uses more composite materials in its airframe and primary structure than any previous Boeing commercial airplane. This, together with other modern tech, helps make the plane popular with several airlines globally. Simple Flying has done a detailed analysis of the 787’s technical features in the article below.
Diving into the deeper features..
