Boeing 787 Dreamliners face mandatory inspections from FAA after midair plunge injured 50

The FAA has issued a mandatory inspection order for Boeing 787 Dreamliners after 50 people were injured in a nosedive incident earlier this year.

A LATAM Airlines flight from Sydney, Australia to Auckland, New Zealand abruptly dropped midair in March. 50 of the 263 passengers and crew on board were injured, with several people flying out of their seats and hitting the roof of the plane.

The FAA said the dive was caused by a seat in the cockpit jolting forward and disconnecting from the autopilot system, NBC News reports. The FAA has received four additional reports of similar issues since.

At the time, the pilot reported losing control of the plane after the gauges “went blank.”

Now, plane operators are required to complete inspections of all 787s within 30 days. This will impact 158 planes in the US and another 737 worldwide, Reuters reports.

“We fully support the FAA’s Airworthiness Directive which makes mandatory a supplier’s guidance to 787 operators,” a Boeing spokesperson told The Independent. A seat manufacturer had sent guidance on inspection procedures to operators last month.

open image in gallery

One passenger described a harrowing experience when the plane dropped.

“The plane, unannounced, just dropped. I mean it dropped unlike anything I’ve ever experienced on any kind of minor turbulence, and people were thrown out of their seats, hit the top of the roof of the plane, throwing down the aisles,” passenger Brian Jokat told the BBC.

“My neighbor who was in the seat two over from me, there was a gap in between us, as soon as I woke I looked and he was on the ceiling and I thought I was dreaming,” he continued.

The FAA investigated Boeing’s 787 Dreamliners earlier this year, looking into whether the company completed the required inspections “and whether company employees may have falsified aircraft records.” The investigation came after Boeing told the FAA in April that some employees may have skipped proper examinations of electrical safeguards in the joins between the wings and the fuselage.

Scott Stocker, head of Boeing’s 787 program, said the missed inspections were due to employee “misconduct” and said that those responsible had received “swift and serious corrective action.”

Meanwhile, Boeing is burning through more than $1 billion a month, as parts shortages and other issues leave the company with some 200 unfinished jets, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The company is also reeling from a high-profile incident earlier this year.

On January 5, a door plug fell off a Boeing 737 Max mid-flight. While there were no deaths on board the Alaska Airlines flight, the incident left several passengers traumatized.

Several whistleblowers then came forward, including Sam Salehpour, a quality engineer who told a US Senate subcommittee that his boss threatened him after he voiced concerns.

Whistleblower Roy Irvin, a Boeing quality investigator, previously told The Independent there are “other things hiding in the bushes” that may cause future disaster.

“I hope there’s no more but I feel there may be other things hiding in the bushes,” he told The Independent. “The door blowout really hit home for me because I predicted this.”

Irvin said the aircraft manufacturer was “infested with ‘yes men’ and bean-counters”, and that the company would “tear down and rebuild” to make significant progress.

Meanwhile, a Boeing spokesperson told The Independent at the time they take allegations of unsafe work practices “very seriously.”

“We continuously encourage employees to report concerns as our priority is to ensure the safety of our airplanes and the flying public, and we will take any necessary action to ensure our airplanes meet regulatory requirements,” the spokesperson said.