FAA Calls For Boeing 787 Seat-Track Inspections After Manufacturing Fault Found
By Rytis Beresnevicius
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has proposed a new airworthiness directive (AD) addressing a potentially unsafe condition of the Boeing 787 seats.
Quality escapement
On January 17, the FAA published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) for the Boeing 787-8 , 787-9, and 787-10, saying that following multiple supplier notices of escapement (NOE), the finalized directive would mandate inspections of seat track splice fittings to determine whether the part was manufactured from a non-compliant alloy.
The regulator detailed that the multiple NOE reports prompted the NPRM since some seat track splice fittings were potentially built with an incorrect titanium alloy material. Suppliers of the part possibly used a Grade 1 or Grade 2 commercially pure unalloyed titanium.
Compared to Grade 5 Ti-6Al-4V alloy material, which should be used to manufacture the fittings, the unalloyed titanium “has significantly reduced strength, fatigue, and damage tolerance properties.”
To address the issue, Boeing issued an Alert Requirements Bulletin (RB) B787-81205-SB530086- 00 RB, Issue 001, on October 18, 2024. The document specifies X-ray fluorescence spectrometer or high-frequency eddy current inspections of the seat track splice fittings to determine the part’s material.
Potential replacement
The FAA estimated that 37 787-8, 787-9, and/or 787-10s would have to undergo seat track splice fitting inspections in the US, each taking up to 16 working hours. At an estimated labor cost of $85 per hour, each inspection should cost operators up to $1,360 per aircraft.
Replacing the fittings, with the FAA having no way of determining how many aircraft could require new fittings, would take up to 20 working hours, setting back operators $1,700 in labor. With parts costing up to $4,140 per location per aircraft, airlines could have to splurge up to $5,840 per location. Each 787 has up to 20 fittings, according to the government agency.
The regulator has invited potentially affected stakeholders to comment on the NPRM before it publishes its final rule AD. Typically, government agencies in the US accept comments for 60 days after the NPRM’s publishing date, but these dates could vary, according to the official US regulations site.
Seat issues
This is not the only directive that the FAA has issued in the past 12 months concerning the 787’s seats. In February 2024 – finalized in October 2024 – it published an AD to address a condition whereupon the flight deck door decompression panel could strike the captain seat’s headrest during a rapid decompression event.
The other directive came after a LATAM Airlines 787-9 suddenly lost altitude while flying above the Tasman Sea, resulting in several dozen injured people onboard the twin-aisle jet. In March 2024, a LATAM Airlines 787-9, registered as CC-BGG, flew from Sydney Airport (SYD) to Santiago Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport (SCL), stopping at Auckland Airport (AKL).
Following the incident, the FAA said that it was adopting a new AD for certain 787-8, 787-9 , and 787-10 aircraft. An uncommanded movement of the Captain’s seat in the forward direction onboard the LATAM Airlines flight, which caused a rapid descent, prompted the directive. Boeing reported four additional instances of uncommanded seat movements to the regulator.
The FAA noted that if not addressed, a rocker switch with a dislodged rocker switch cap, if depressed by the rocker switch guard, could cause unintended and sustained movement of the seat, potentially resulting in an in-flight upset and rapid descent of the aircraft.
