DALLAS — The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued an Airworthiness Directive (AD) mandating inspections of all Boeing 787 variants following an incident involving a sudden mid-air dive of a LATAM (LA) Boeing 787-9 in March of this year.

The AD was prompted by an uncommanded forward movement of the Captain’s seat, which caused the autopilot to disconnect.

The FAA has also received four additional reports from Boeing of uncommanded horizontal movement of the Captain’s and First Officer’s seats, the most recent of which occurred in June 2024.

Three of these incidents were caused by loose forward/aft rocker switch caps under the spring-loaded rocker switch cover guard on the back of the Captain’s and First Officer’s seats. Two other incidents are currently under investigation.

The AD requires inspections of affected Captain and First Officer’s seats for missing or cracked rocker switch caps and cracked or nonfunctional switch cover assemblies, which must be completed within 30 days.

The AD has been issued to address the unsafe conditions on these aircraft, and airlines worldwide must take corrective actions if issues are found.

LATAM Incident

A LATAM Boeing 787-9 flying from Sydney to Auckland abruptly dropped mid-air before the aircraft stabilized, causing passengers to be thrown around the cabin and injuring over 50 people on board.

A preliminary report suggests that the autopilot disengaged after a flight attendant accidentally hit a switch on the captain’s seat, ultimately leading to a nose-down movement.

Boeing has since advised airlines to inspect the rocker switch on Boeing 787s during the next maintenance check. According to Reuters, the FAA's current directive affects 158 U.S.-registered and 737 aircraft worldwide.

The FAA AD is expected to potentially impact more than 18 million seats across around 64,000 flights worldwide over the next 30 days, according to data from Mabrian.