More bad news for airlines. In addition to delays in the delivery of new aircraft and production problems at Boeing, they will have to deal with the latest demands from the FAA, the US transport regulator.
The latter is in fact calling for an immediate inspection of the pilot seats of 895 Boeing 787 Dreamliners in circulation around the world. after an incident in March on a flight of the Chilean company Latam during which the plane suddenly lost altitude, injuring about fifty passengers
According to estimates by Mabrian, a provider of tourism data analysis, more than 64,000 flights scheduled for the next 30 days could be “potentially” affected. This represents a whopping 18 million available seats, the specialist added in a press release.
“All Nippon and Qatar Airways will be the airlines most affected”
“Major airlines such as All Nippon Airways, Qatar Airways, American Airlines, United Airlines and Air Europa, among others, are expected to be subject to this mandatory inspection, which puts into question a busy seasonal flight schedule around the world,” we can read.
All Nippon Airways and Qatar Airways will be the airlines most affected, the expert said.
“This mandatory inspection will not mean grounding all aircraft at once – in fact, the fleet can continue flying and airlines have 30 days to complete it and repair any malfunctions – but this will be a major challenge in an already tight summer and post-summer schedule,” explains Carlos Cendra, partner and marketing and communications director at Mabrian.
Airlines connecting America to Europe, notably United Airlines, as well as American Airlines, Air Canada, LATAM Airlines and Air Europa, “will also be forced to rearrange seat availability over the next 30 days.”
Several similar incidents
During the crash of the Latin American airline Dreamliner, passengers whose seat belts were not fastened were thrown towards the ceiling after the plane suddenly lost altitude.
The FAA then requested these inspections after a report of “an uncontrolled forward movement of the captain’s seat resulting in a rapid descent,” according to a press release.
Since the incident, Boeing has reported to the FAA four other cases of “uncontrolled horizontal movements” of the pilot or copilot seats, the FAA said. In three of these cases, the seat adjustment levers were too “loose.”
“An “unintentional and prolonged movement of the seat” can lead to “unintentional and abrupt manipulation of the flight controls, which could cause the aircraft to descend rapidly and seriously injure passengers and flight attendants,” the FAA explains in justifying its directive.
Source: BFM TV
