Cockpit Error Investigation: Updates and Safety Measures for Boeing 787 Dreamliner

TFD – Get the latest updates on the investigation into the cockpit error incident involving a Boeing 787 Dreamliner on a Latam Airlines flight. TheFoxDaily brings you essential insights into flight safety and regulatory investigations.

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week that an error in the cockpit, rather than a defect in the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, may have been the cause of a scary dive on a Latam Airlines aircraft.

The Journal report speculates that a flight attendant may have accidentally pressed a switch on the pilot’s seat while serving a meal, causing a motorized feature to push the pilot into the controls and push down the plane’s nose. The report cites unnamed US industry officials briefed on preliminary evidence from an investigation into the incident. Eventually, the pilot regained control and made a safe landing.

Boeing said on Friday that it had forwarded an advisory, “which included instructions for inspecting and maintaining [cockpit seat] switches,” to airlines that fly the 787 Dreamliner on Thursday night, as reported in a separate Wall Street Journal story. It claimed to have given airlines a comparable service notice in 2017.

It stated, “We are advising operators to conduct an inspection at the next maintenance opportunity.”

The switches on the back of the pilots’ seats on Dreamliners have been “identified a potential hazard,” American Airlines has begun informing its pilots. The warning, which CNN was able to get, stated that all people using the cockpit should receive a briefing on “the importance of not using the switch on the top back of the pilot seat when the seat is occupied.”

The airline operated around forty-seven 787s as of 2022.

FAA notices of review

The US Federal Aviation Administration stated that in addition to its earlier 2017 notice, Boeing’s notice to airlines on Thursday regarding the cockpit seat changes is also being examined. In order to give Boeing input on its warning to airlines that fly the Dreamliner, the government is assembling a board of safety specialists.

The FAA stated, “The agency will continue to monitor the situation closely.”

A Boeing representative referred any questions on the event’s cause to the official investigators when CNN asked whether the service notice that was sent out yesterday was a result of some initial findings made by investigators into the Latam disaster.

The plane crashed, injuring dozens of people, some of whom were flung to the cabin ceiling. A passenger claimed to the media that when “my gauges just kind of went blank on me,” the pilot informed him he had lost control of the aircraft. The remark alluded to a fresh safety concern for Boeing, the company dealing with years of quality and safety problems involving its commercial aircraft.

CNN has not yet been able to corroborate the Journal’s allegation regarding the reason behind the collapse.

The aircraft “had a technical event during the flight which caused a strong movement,” according to Latam on Monday. It also stated that the plane had landed in Auckland on schedule. In response to questions on suggestions that the flight issue was caused by a mishap in the cockpit, the airline informed the Journal that it is collaborating with law enforcement on the inquiry, but it would not comment further until the investigation was complete.

The pilots union in Latam chose not to respond. Requests for feedback from the company’s flight attendant union were not immediately answered.

Boeing said it was “working to gather more information about the flight and will provide any support needed by our customer” in a statement to CNN on Tuesday.

The flight is being investigated by investigators from Chilean aviation authority and New Zealand authorities. Airline Latam is based in Chile. They are examining data from the black boxes, which capture audio recordings of conversations that took place within the cockpit in addition to data from airline instrumentation. The New Zealand Transport Accident Investigation Commission now has the black boxes that were taken from the aircraft.

Boeing is being investigated for safety concerns.

If Boeing is found not to have been at fault in the Latam flight, that would be good news. The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are both conducting multiple investigations into the company in relation to an incident that occurred on an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max flight on January 5th, during which a door plug blew out, leaving a large hole in the side of the aircraft minutes into the flight.

Thankfully, there were no major injuries sustained on the trip from what could have been a disastrous incident. However, the mishap has refocused attention on Boeing commercial aircraft safety, which was previously lacking due to two deadly crashes in 2018 and 2019 that claimed 346 lives in total.

Due to a defect in the 737 Max’s design, Boeing has admitted legal responsibility for the crashes. The Justice Department is currently looking into whether the most recent problems with Boeing that have come to light after the Alaska Air incident would violate the company’s contentious 2021 deferred prosecution deal, potentially subjecting it to criminal culpability.

Multiple instances of “non-compliance issues in Boeing’s manufacturing process control, parts handling and storage, and product control” were discovered during an FAA examination of the company conducted after the Alaska Air flight. Boeing has been given ninety days by the EPA to develop a strategy to address its quality shortcomings. Boeing stated that it is attempting to comply with FAA regulations.

According to an NTSB preliminary investigation on the January 5 Alaska Air flight, the aircraft departed the Boeing factory in October without the four bolts that hold the door plug in place.

The NTSB investigation has faulted Boeing for lacking the documentation identifying the employees who worked on the door plug, but it has not yet assigned culpability for the incident that occurred inside the aircraft.

However, executives at Boeing have acknowledged that the company has to improve the quality and safety of their aircraft.

Speaking to investors on the company’s most recent financial losses, Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun stated, “Boeing is accountable for what happened, whatever final conclusions are reached.” “This kind of incident cannot occur on an aircraft that departs from our factory. For the benefit of our clients and their guests, we must only perform better.

This article was written with assistance from CNN’s Angus Watson, Gregory Wallace, and Pete Muntean.

Updates to this story provide background and more reporting.