Latam flight: Turmoil as pilot's seat adjusted

An adjustment mechanism in a cockpit seat may have played a role in an incident on a flight from Sydney to Auckland, which may have caused dozens of injuries. A Chilean Airline Latham passenger plane went down in mid-air on Monday en route from Australia to New Zealand. Passengers who were not wearing seat belts sometimes flew through the cabin and hit the roof, passengers said. The aircraft stabilized again and landed safely in Auckland. Emergency services said around 50 people were injured.

The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday evening that the pilot pressed against the instruments after a crew member turned on a switch on the back of the seat while serving food in the cockpit. The switch on the back of the chair is normally covered and should not be used while a pilot is seated in the seat. The plane then plunged nose down, the newspaper reported, citing anonymous sources from the US Department of Transportation. The incident could increase pressure on Boeing after the cabin of a 737 Max jet broke up mid-air over Oregon in January.

Latam Airlines initially announced that “a technical incident during the flight caused a strong movement”. On Tuesday, the airline said the plane had suffered “a strong shock”, the cause of which was still being investigated.

Boeing is calling on airlines to check the switches in the pilot seats of the 787 model series, known as the Dreamliner, the company announced Friday. Such inspection is recommended during the next maintenance work on the machines. Boeing provides instructions on how to disable the actuators that move the seats. It said the instruction was a “precautionary measure”. Investigation into the incident continued.