Boeing faces another headwind after LATAM Airlines plunge

Another one of Boeing’s popular planes, the 787 Dreamliner, is being investigated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) after one aircraft rapidly descended when the captain’s seat spontaneously moved forward and impacted the controls.

Since the LATAM Airlines incident in March that injured at least 50 people, the FAA said it has received four additional reports from Boeing of “uncommanded horizontal movement of the captain’s and first officer’s seats,” with the most recent occurring in June 2024, according to its latest airworthiness directive (AD), issued on Aug. 2.

“Uncommanded horizontal movement of an occupied seat can cause in-flight upset from unintended and abrupt flight control inputs, which could result in a rapid descent of the airplane and serious injury to passengers and crew,” the FAA said in the directive.

In three of the instances, the FAA noticed that the seat moved due to the “result of cracking or un-bonded or de-bonded caps.” Un-bonded is a term for unglued.

These caps protect the switch that moves the seat. The other two incidents are still under investigation, according to the agency.

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As part of its AD, the FAA told FOX Business that it is requiring operators 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 and for cracked or nonfunctional switch cover assemblies within 30 days. Operators must also perform any necessary corrective actions, the FAA said. 

The FAA uses ADs to notify aircraft owners and others that there are unsafe conditions, and to specify the conditions under which the product may continue to be operated.

The agency said this directive affects 158 U.S.-registered airplanes and 737 airplanes worldwide.

Boeing told FOX Business that it fully supports the directive.

This marks the latest woe for the company, which is trying to rebuild its reputation under new CEO Kelly Ortberg.

However, one veteran pilot noted the seriousness of the “seat ghost movements” and that it’s another issue with the assembly of Boeing planes. 

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“You learn things about new airplanes all the time. But when you learn that they are not properly assembled, it fits right into the systemic story of what ails Boeing across the entire company,” American Airlines Capt. Dennis Tajer said, adding that “we’ve seen issues with the 787 in assembly.” 

A LATAM ‘LAN Chile’ Airlines Boeing 787-8 takes off from Los Angeles International Airport on July 30, 2022, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images / Getty Images)

The problem is this latest issue could have turned fatal, he said. 

Tajer commended the FAA, saying the agency isn’t “playing around” with this directive, which forces the company to address the issue. 

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“The bad news is that the incident that could have killed people happened in March. And here we are in August getting this airworthiness directive,” Tajer said. “These seat ghost movements have occurred several times since that – what could have been fatal crash of an airplane – occurred.”