The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has proposed inspections of pilot seats on all variants of Boeing 767 widebody aircraft. This announcement follows a recent mandate from the FAA requiring inspections of all Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft worldwide, focusing on the switches that control the movement of the pilots’ seats in the cockpit.
A proposed rule
The FAA issued Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2019-14-13 for all Boeing 767-200, -300, -300F, and -400ER planes due to reports of the captain’s and first officer’s seats moving unexpectedly.
The directive requires checking the part and serial numbers of these seats, performing an initial detailed inspection, and conducting regular checks of the seat’s movement system. Since the directive was issued, Boeing and the seat supplier, Ipeco, discovered that some seat part numbers were missing from the original service information. Both companies have updated their information to include these missing numbers.
As a result, the FAA has identified that more seats are affected by this issue. The FAA plans to keep the original directive but will add new checks for the newly identified parts.
The directive’s goal is to prevent unexpected seat movement during critical flight phases, like take-off or landing. This could block flight controls or lead to unintended control inputs, potentially resulting in loss of control of the aircraft.
Advertisement
It is worth noting that more than 780 Boeing 767s are in active operation across the world, according to ch-aviation data.
Boeing 787 seat issues
The announcement of the proposed new checks for Boeing 767 seats follows closely after the FAA required inspections of all Boeing 787 aircraft worldwide. This inspection targeted switches that control the movement of the pilots’ seats in the cockpit.
Boeing 787 Dreamliner operators around the world have been asked by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to inspect the seats of the captain and first officer on all three 787-8, 787-9, and 787-10 types for missing or cracked rocker switch caps or for cracked switch cover.
This recent action is connected to the LATAM Dreamliner incident in March 2024, where the plane experienced a sudden drop due to the captain’s seat unexpectedly moving forward. A Boeing 787-9 aircraft, registered CC-BGG, faced a terrifying sudden drop at cruising altitude. The plane was performing a 5th freedom flight between Sydney and Auckland, and the incident injured over 50 passengers, leaving many with severe injuries, with at least one person in critical condition.
A preliminary report released by the authorities said that the captain’s seat moved forward, potentially causing the aircraft to lose altitude suddenly. The report confirmed that weather had no role in the incident, which occurred when the plane was flying at 41,000 feet.
