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The terrifying nosedive of a LATAM Airlines Boeing 787 flight that left at least 50 people injured may have been caused by a flight attendant flicking a switch in the cockpit, according a new report.
The clumsy crew member appears to have inadvertently hit the switch on the pilot’s seat while serving a mid-flight meal, US aviation industry officials briefed on preliminary evidence from the investigation told The Wall Street Journal.
That pushed the pilot into the controls – thrusting down the nose of the plane, leaving some of the 263 passengers and nine crew members flying into the ceiling and fearing the jet was dropping out of the sky, the report said, per the NY Post.
The flipped seat switch explanation appears to echo reporting by the aviation industry publication The Air Current, which cited a senior airline safety official as saying that the movement of a seat on the flight deck caused “the nose down” angle for the plane.
The pilot ultimately recovered control of the plummeting aircraft and landed it safely in New Zealand.
Boeing on Thursday issued a memo to airlines operating its 787 jets, recommending that they check the cockpit seats for loose covers on the switches – and instructing them how to cut power to the motorised pilot chairs if needed.
“Closing the spring-loaded seat back switch guard onto a loose/detached rocker switch cap can potentially jam the rocker switch, resulting in unintended seat movement,” according to the memo viewed by The Wall Street Journal.
Boeing did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday. A spokesperson for LATAM would only tell The Post that the airline “continues to work in co-ordination with the authorities in order to support the ongoing investigation”.
The Chile-based airline previously said the Dreamliner suffered a “technical event during the flight which caused strong movement”.
It later said the plane “experienced a strong shake during flight, the cause of which is currently under investigation”.
Shaken passengers had previously described the harrowing ordeal, the aftermath of which was captured on video showing a woman lying apparently unconscious in the middle aisle, and others holding their heads in pain.
“The plane, unannounced, just dropped. I mean it dropped unlike anything I’ve ever experienced on any kind of minor turbulence, and people were thrown out of their seats, hit the top of the roof of the plane, thrown down the aisles,” passenger Brian Jokat told ABC News.
“Some of the roof panels were broken from people being thrown up and knocking through the plastic roof panels in the aisle ways. And there was blood coming from several people’s heads.”
Clara Azevedo, from Brisbane, said she wound up helping a fellow passenger who broke two ribs and injured her shoulder because the woman did not speak English, and LATAM Airlines didn’t have translators.
“We were all traumatised and we had to find strength to help people out,” she told the NZ Herald.
About 50 people were treated at the scene for mostly minor injuries, while 13 were hospitalised.
Of the 13, the majority were discharged a short time later, and only one passenger and one crew member required additional medical attention, according to the airline.
Passengers later claimed the airline ignored them for several hours after the nightmarish flight – and then offered each a single McDonald’s cheeseburger as they waited at the Auckland terminal.
“Accidents happen, but the way they treat us, that’s not what it’s supposed to be,” passenger Thais Iwamoto told the NZ Herald.
New Zealand’s Transport Accident Investigation Commission said on Tuesday it was seizing the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder of the flight, which would provide information about the conversations between the pilots and the plane’s movement.
This article originally appeared on NY Post and was reproduced with permission
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