US FAA demands inspections of Boeing 787s after mid-air dive

The US Federal Aviation Administration said Monday it would require inspections of Boeing Dreamliners following an incident in March when a LATAM Airlines plane went into a sudden mid-air dive that injured more than 50 passengers.

The FAA said the apparent cause of the dive was uncommanded movement of the captain’s seat, which caused the autopilot to disengage. The agency said it has received a total of five reports of similar problems with the captain and first officer seats on the 787, most recently in June, and two remain under investigation.

The FAA airworthiness directive affects 158 U.S.-registered airplanes and 737 airplanes worldwide and requires airlines to inspect the captain’s and first officer’s seats on 787-7, 787-9 and 787-10 aircraft for missing or cracked covers rocker switch or cracked. cover assemblies within 30 days.

Airlines must take all necessary corrective actions if problems are found.

The FAA said that uncontrolled horizontal movement of an occupied seat could cause the plane to descend rapidly and seriously injure passengers and crew.

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Boeing and LATAM Airlines did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Separately, Boeing said Monday it had halted test flights on the 777-9, which is awaiting certification, after a component between the engine and the plane’s structure was identified as failing during a maintenance check.

The FAA said it informed Boeing that the company discovered a damaged component following a 777-9 flight test last week.

Boeing began certification flight testing for the long-delayed 777-9 in July with FAA regulators on board after receiving type inspection clearance.

Boeing added that “no short-term flight tests are planned on the other flight test aircraft” and said the part is custom-made for the 777-9.

(Reporting by Eric Beech and David Shepardson; Editing by Chris Reese and Stephen Coates)