U.S. FAA Orders Inspections Of Boeing 787 Jets Following Mid-Air Dive

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has announced that it will require inspections of Boeing 787 Dreamliners following an incident in March in which a LATAM Airlines plane experienced a sudden mid-air dive that injured more than 50 passengers, according to a report by David Shepardson and Eric Beech for Reuters.

The directive requires airlines to inspect the captain’s and first officer’s seats on 787-7, 787-9, and 787-10 airplanes for missing or cracked rocker switch caps or for cracked switch cover assemblies within 30 days. I Photo: The Boeing Company

The FAA stated that the apparent cause of the dive was the uncommanded movement of the captain's seat, which led to the autopilot disconnecting. The agency revealed that it had received a total of five reports of similar issues with the captain and first officer seats on 787s, with the most recent report occurring in June.

Two of these cases remain under investigation.

The FAA's airworthiness directive impacts 158 US-registered airplanes and 737 airplanes worldwide.

The directive requires airlines to inspect the captain’s and first officer’s seats on 787-7, 787-9, and 787-10 airplanes for missing or cracked rocker switch caps or for cracked switch cover assemblies within 30 days.

Airlines must carry out any necessary corrective actions if issues are found. The FAA warned that uncommanded horizontal movement of an occupied seat could result in a rapid descent of the airplane and serious injury to passengers and crew.