A LATAM Airlines Boeing 787 flight took a horrific turn that injured at least 50 people, possibly because a flight attendant accidentally pressed a switch in the cabin, reports said Friday.
US aviation industry officials who heard preliminary evidence from the investigation told the Wall Street Journal that a bumbling crew member appeared to have accidentally pressed a switch in the pilot’s seat while serving food in-flight.
The pilot was forced to take control of the plane with the nose down, sending some of the 263 passengers and nine crew members flying toward the ceiling and fearing the plane would fall out of the sky, the report said.
The explanation for the rotation of the seat switch appears to echo a report from aviation publication Air Current, which quoted senior airline safety officials as saying that the movement of the seats in the flight deck caused the plane to assume a nose-down angle.
The pilot eventually regained control of the downed aircraft and landed safely in New Zealand.
Boeing on Thursday issued an advisory to airlines flying its 787 planes, advising them to check for loose cockpit seat switch covers and instructing them on how to cut power to pilots’ seats if necessary.
According to a memo published by The Wall Street Journal, “closing the spring-loaded seatback switch cover over a loose/disconnected rocker switch cover may jam the rocker switch, causing unintended seat movement.”
Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday. A LATAM spokesperson would only tell The Washington Post that the airline “will continue to coordinate with authorities to support the ongoing investigation.”
The Chile-based airline previously said the Dreamliner “experienced a technical incident during the flight that resulted in severe shaking.”
It was later reported that the aircraft “experienced severe shaking during flight, the cause of which is currently under investigation.”
Shocked passengers have previously described the harrowing experience and video captured the aftermath, with a woman lying apparently unconscious in the center aisle as others held their heads in pain.
“The plane crashed without warning. I mean, the accident was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced, because there was a little bit of turbulence and people were thrown out of their seats and hit the side of the plane. passage,” passenger Brian Jocat told ABC News Australia.
“Some of the tiles were cracked because people were thrown and broke the plastic tiles in the passages. There were also several people with blood flowing from their heads.”
Clara Azevedo, from Brisbane, Australia, said she ended up helping a passenger who had broken two ribs and injured her shoulder because the woman didn’t speak English and LATAM didn’t translate.
“We’re all traumatized and we need to find the strength to help people,” she told the New Zealand Herald.
Of the 13 people, most were quickly released from hospital and only one passenger and one crew member required additional medical attention, the airline said.
Passengers later claimed the airline ignored them for hours after the nightmare flight and then gave them each a McDonald’s cheeseburger while they waited in the Auckland terminal.
“Accidents happen, but the way they treat us is not the way we should be treated,” Thais Iwamoto complained to the Herald.
The New Zealand Transport Accident Investigation Board said on Tuesday it had seized the plane’s cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorders, which will provide information about conversations between pilots and the plane’s movements.