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Movement of pilot's seat a focus of probe into Latam Boeing flight, report says

reuters.com

11–20 of 22 posts

Re: Movement of pilot's seat a focus of probe into Latam Boeing flight, report says

#11
post #7
post #2

I'm no expert, but it seems quite concerning that something as simple as a seat movement might not be sufficiently isolated from flight systems to prevent an electrical short.

I read this as being caused mechanical, aka the seat moves abruptly forward causing the pilot who wasn’t expecting it to push hard on the yoke which tells the plane to dive. The point of the investigation now then is why did the seat move?

From the article:

> "The seat movement caused the nose down" angle of the aircraft, the publication said, citing another anonymous source who added the possibility of an electrical short was also under review.

Sounds like it may or may not be a short, but the fact that it might be possible is what I find concerning.

Re: Movement of pilot's seat a focus of probe into Latam Boeing flight, report says

#12

Just a reminder / plea: please wait for the investigation and report before theorising about what happened, what is wrong, how that can be, allocating blame, etc. There will eventually be a full report with real facts and lots of details. At this point, it's too early to connect any dots.

If you don't want theorizing, is there anything meaningful to post? Is that a way of saying the story shouldn't have been submitted at all?

Re: Movement of pilot's seat a focus of probe into Latam Boeing flight, report says

#13
post #4

The page Reuters links to is a good read also. “While the precise details of the incident are not fully known, there is ample historical precedent for unintentional in-flight upsets or electrical issues. In 2014, a digital SLR camera became jammed between the left arm rest and the base of the side stick of a Royal Air Force A330 tanker causing a 4,400 foot loss in altitude and a maximum recorded descent rate of 15,00…

I find it interesting/worrying that we specifically rule out drinks/liquids etc. in DCs or around any critical or even non-critical infrastructure, but it's perfectly acceptable to take drinks into a flight deck?

Re: Movement of pilot's seat a focus of probe into Latam Boeing flight, report says

#14
post #4

The page Reuters links to is a good read also. “While the precise details of the incident are not fully known, there is ample historical precedent for unintentional in-flight upsets or electrical issues. In 2014, a digital SLR camera became jammed between the left arm rest and the base of the side stick of a Royal Air Force A330 tanker causing a 4,400 foot loss in altitude and a maximum recorded descent rate of 15,00…

I find it interesting/worrying that we specifically rule out drinks/liquids etc. in DCs or around any critical or even non-critical infrastructure, but it's perfectly acceptable to take drinks into a flight deck?

Yes, that is perfectly acceptable. Pilots can't be expected to go without anything to drink on long flights.

Re: Movement of pilot's seat a focus of probe into Latam Boeing flight, report says

#15
post #4

The page Reuters links to is a good read also. “While the precise details of the incident are not fully known, there is ample historical precedent for unintentional in-flight upsets or electrical issues. In 2014, a digital SLR camera became jammed between the left arm rest and the base of the side stick of a Royal Air Force A330 tanker causing a 4,400 foot loss in altitude and a maximum recorded descent rate of 15,00…

I find it interesting/worrying that we specifically rule out drinks/liquids etc. in DCs or around any critical or even non-critical infrastructure, but it's perfectly acceptable to take drinks into a flight deck?

Food and drink are allowed in the cockpit, especially for longer flights.

Re: Movement of pilot's seat a focus of probe into Latam Boeing flight, report says

#16
post #8
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but how could it relate to the nosediving by just adjusting the seat?

Well if you’re holding a yoke and the seat moves forward you’re likely to push on the yoke

It really is that simple.

Re: Movement of pilot's seat a focus of probe into Latam Boeing flight, report says

#17

Just a reminder / plea: please wait for the investigation and report before theorising about what happened, what is wrong, how that can be, allocating blame, etc. There will eventually be a full report with real facts and lots of details. At this point, it's too early to connect any dots.

If you don't want theorizing, is there anything meaningful to post? Is that a way of saying the story shouldn't have been submitted at all?

discussing the broad concept of safety is different from theorizing/speculating about the specific case.

Re: Movement of pilot's seat a focus of probe into Latam Boeing flight, report says

#18

Just a reminder / plea: please wait for the investigation and report before theorising about what happened, what is wrong, how that can be, allocating blame, etc. There will eventually be a full report with real facts and lots of details. At this point, it's too early to connect any dots.

If you don't want theorizing, is there anything meaningful to post? Is that a way of saying the story shouldn't have been submitted at all?

Aside from what afiori said, I do tend to think that it's not really necessary to have a post at this point. However, not having a post is slightly different to having one where we (hopefully) agree that it's too early to really discuss. In this way, the post is somewhat useful as a "nothing to see here, move along" notice, but not really as a discussion.

Re: Movement of pilot's seat a focus of probe into Latam Boeing flight, report says

#19
post #8
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but how could it relate to the nosediving by just adjusting the seat?

Well if you’re holding a yoke and the seat moves forward you’re likely to push on the yoke

Seems unlikely they’d be holding the yolk during cruise.

Re: Movement of pilot's seat a focus of probe into Latam Boeing flight, report says

#20
In small trainer planes, the seat gets moved back and forth frequently to accommodate students of different heights.

At least one crash has been caused by the seat rails becoming so worn that the seat slid back during takeoff and the pilot could no longer reach the controls.

The same thing can happen in old cars.

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