Boeing has told airlines to check the cockpit seats of its 787 Dreamliner planes, the company said Friday, after a Latam Airlines plane on a flight to Auckland, New Zealand, suddenly plunged on Monday, injuring passengers.
The drop in altitude appears to have been caused when a flight attendant flicked a switch on a seat that sent a pilot to the plane’s controls, the Wall Street Journal reported this week, citing unnamed US industry officials. Aviation regulators are investigating the incident and have not released any findings.
In a statement, Boeing said it reminded airlines of a safety memo from 2017 that instructed them how to inspect and maintain switches on flight deck seats.
“The investigation into flight LA800 is ongoing and we are deferring the initial investigation of any findings,” the company said. “We recommend operators do an inspection at the next maintenance opportunity,” he added.
The terrifying crash of the Latam plane was caught on video recorded by passengers. The plane plummeted and then quickly recovered, said one passenger, Brian Jokat, likening it to “going over the top of a roller coaster and heading down.”
The crash left at least one passenger in critical condition. Another 11 people were also taken to hospitals in Auckland after the plane landed there. In all, dozens of passengers suffered injuries, most of them minor.
Regulators, airlines and travelers have been intensely focused on the quality and safety of Boeing planes since the Jan. 5 incident in which a panel cut off an Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9, forcing the pilots to make an emergency landing. In 2018 and 2019, two 737 Max 8 jets crashed in Indonesia and Ethiopia, killing nearly 350 people.
In a memo to its 787 flight crews, American Airlines said it had “identified a potential hazard” with the horizontal power control switches on the upper rear of the pilot’s seats.
The memo, reviewed by The New York Times, said the airline’s technology operations team “will ensure these switches are properly secured” and asked the 787 captains to “inform all pilots, flight attendants and deck riders for your flight. the importance of not using the switch on the upper back of the pilot’s seat when the seat is occupied’.
In an image of the back of a seat included in the note, the switch appears to have a cover.
The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement Friday that it will convene a panel of experts to review Boeing’s messages to airlines about the change, including the 2017 memo, and provide feedback to the company. “The agency will continue to monitor the situation closely,” it said.
The 787 Dreamliner, a twin-aisle jet, is one of Boeing’s most important airplanes. Its three models can carry between 248 and 336 passengers, according to Boeing, and are used by airlines on international and intercontinental flights.
Latam’s plane was flying from Sydney, Australia to Auckland and was due to fly to Santiago, Chile, where the airline is based. The company said in a statement Friday that it is cooperating with investigators.
Mark Walker contributed to the report.
