New Boeing 787 Fault Leaves Unsuspecting Pilots Disconnected From Air Traffic Control
The Federal Aviation Administration's recent surge in controller applicants should tell anyone how vital air traffic control is needed to safely navigate a 250-ton plane from airport to airport. The federal agency warned airlines in late February that the Boeing 787 Dreamliner had a severe fault that caused very high frequency radio channels to transfer between active and standby windows of the plane's tuning control panel, which could lead to flight crew missing communications. Boeing released a software update. However, Qatar Airways reported that the patch doesn't fix the issue.
While the unintended transfers can be corrected by attentive pilots, the proposed airworthiness directive from the FAA doesn't downplay the potential risks if the issue isn't fixed. Pilots could miss instructions to maintain safe separation from other aircraft, avoid mid-air collisions and prevent runway incursions. The agency is taking comments concerning the directive until April 14 and has already received a worrying statement from Qatar Airways:
"However, even if all QTR B787 airplanes are post SB B787-81205-SB230051-00, Qatar Airways flight crew are still reporting similar issues from post-mod airplanes. QTR already reported the events to Boeing / Collins Aerospace for further investigation and root cause determination. Boeing / Collins already acknowledged the issue and FTD is updated with the same information."
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Boeing's quality control issues that plagued the 737 Max also impacted the 787 Dreamliner. In 2023, the FAA stated it received multiple reports of leaky lavatory faucets on the wide-body airliner. The issue might seem minor, but water flowed under the cabin door and into equipment bays. Boeing stated that the leak was caused by a faulty o-ring and was limited to a batch of aircraft. However, the FAA believed the leaks were more widespread and wanted every Dreamliner inspected.
Problems for the 787 continued in 2024 as the FAA demanded that every Dreamliner be reinspected after to verify if Boeing employees falsified aircraft records. It was believed that some 787 planes rolled off the assembly line without having their wings inspected. At this point, it wouldn't be surprising if Boeing workers also rolled out a software update that didn't completely resolve the known radio frequency transfer issue.
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