LATAM incident linked to risk of flight systems simultaneously resetting

A terrifying loss of control during a LATAM airlines flight from Sydney to Auckland has been linked to a documented risk of flight systems simultaneously resetting on Boeing 787-9s.

A terrifying loss of control during a LATAM airlines’ flight from Sydney to Auckland has been linked to a warning issued by the US safety regulator in relation to Boeing 787-9s.

About two-hours into flight LAN800, the aircraft suddenly dropped, launching unrestrained passengers, crew and belongings into the ceiling.

The jolt lasted about “40 milliseconds” according to passenger Lucas Ellwood, who told The Australian the force of the movement tore his headphones from his ears and sent his iPad and phone flying.

“It was over before you knew it but people and cellphones and bags just paused for a brief moment on the roof (of the plane) before they came crashing down. It was very, very scary,” said Mr Ellwood, an Auckland DJ who was returning home from a family reunion in Tamworth.

“There was no warning, and no announcement from crew afterwards. Passengers had to organise the first aid responders to volunteer themselves to give assistance to those in need.”

Some needed neck braces, many required ice for sprains and several passengers had to be “secured to the floor” for landing, Mr Ellwood said.

About 50 passengers and crew were assessed or treated by paramedics upon landing at Auckland, with 13 people including four Australians then transported to hospitals.

Passenger Brian Jokat revealed that after the flight, the pilot told him all his gauges “blanked out” and he had no control over the eight-year-old 787-9.

Mr Ellwood confirmed he saw Mr Jokat speaking to the pilot, and said it felt like all power was lost for a moment.

In a statement, LATAM airlines said a “technical issue” was to blame for the “strong movement” but did not elaborate.

Pilots with experience on Boeing aircraft said data glitches such as that described by Mr Jokat did occur on aeroplanes, but they had not heard of such a thing occurring on a 787-9.

However, the US regulator, the Federal Aviation Administration, issued a directive in 2016 and again in 2020 warning that repetitive cycling of the 787-9s electrical power was necessary to avoid the risk of all three flight control modules simultaneously resetting in flight.

The directive said such a simultaneous reset in flight “could result in flight control surfaces not moving in response to flight crew inputs for a short time and consequent temporary loss of controllability.”

A statement from Boeing said the manufacturer stood ready to support investigation-related activities as requested.

“We are thinking of the passengers and crew from LATAM Airlines flight 800, and we commend everyone involved in the response effort,” said a Boeing spokesman.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau said the incident would be investigated by Chile’s Direccion General de Aeronautica Civil, with assistance from New Zealand’s Transport Accident Investigation Commission.

“As the incident occurred in international airspace, under the International Convention on Aviation the state of registry of the aircraft is responsible for the investigation,” said the ATSB.

“The ATSB stands ready to support any requests for technical assistance with this investigation from our international counterpart agencies.”

A TAIC spokesman said the commission was in the process of gathering evidence relevant to the inquiry, including seizing the cockpit voice and flight data recorders.

Mr Ellwood said the experience was not one he would wish to ever repeat.

“We definitely lost all power for a brief second, and it was very daunting because there was no or very limited communications to the passengers,” he said.

“At the end of the flight, a man came asking around our section of the plane because he’d lost his personal bag. It was that forceful.”

LATAM Airlines is Latin America’s largest airline. The carrier was formed when Chile’s Lan Airlines, and Brazil’s TAM airline merged in 2012.

It is considered the safest airline in the region and had a six out of seven-star rating, on airlineratings.com.

Originally published as LATAM incident linked to risk of flight systems simultaneously resetting