FAA issues airworthiness directive for 787 Dreamliner

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued an airworthiness directive (AD) effective immediately for certain 787 Dreamliner aircraft. It follows an incident on March 11, 2024, when LATAM Airlines Flight 800 on a 787-9 aircraft had went into a sudden mid-air dive which resulted in over 50 passengers injured. The FAA said it received reports of ""uncommanded horizontal movement of the captain's and first officer's seats"" on 787 aircraft. The federal agency added: ""The FAA received the first report in March 2024 indicating that uncommanded movement of the captain's seat caused the control column input to disconnect the auto-pilot, resulting in a rapid descent until the first officer took control of the flight."" The FAA said following the incident, it had received four subsequent and similar reports with the most recent June. Two remain under investigation. The AD described how a seat manufacturer had sent 787 operators a service bulletin in mid-July with additional guidance and inspection procedures on this issue. A Boeing spokesperson said: ""We fully support the FAA's [AD] which makes mandatory a supplier's guidance to 787 operators."" An FAA spokesperson said: ""The AD requires operators to inspect captain’s and first officer’s seats [on 787-8, 9, and 10 aircraft] 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 safety directive also limits the installation of affected seats. ""The FAA is issuing this AD because the agency has determined the unsafe condition described previously is likely to exist or develop in other products of the same type design,"" the agency said in its directive. A spokesperson said the directive will affect around 158 US-registered aircraft and some 737 airplanes worldwide.