Black box of Boeing-made LATAM aircraft seized after ‘technical’ failure

New Zealand investigators on Tuesday seized flight recorders from a Boeing-made LATAM plane as they searched to find out what caused dozens of terrified passengers to fall and injure themselves mid-air.

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner was en route from Sydney to Auckland when it suddenly tilted toward the ground on Monday night, ejecting some unrestrained passengers from their seats and slamming others into the cabin ceiling.

“Everyone started screaming and crying,” said Ellie Addison, an Australian receptionist and one of the 263 passengers on flight LA800.

“People were being bounced out of their seats and blood was pouring from people’s faces.”

It is the latest in a series of high-profile safety incidents plaguing U.S. aircraft manufacturer Boeing.

Boeing and Chile-based LATAM Airlines both pledged to cooperate with authorities to determine the cause of the unspecified “technical incident.”

The confusion has cast a pall over the early investigation, with safety regulators in Chile and New Zealand both suggesting the other country is taking the lead.

New Zealand accident investigators said on Tuesday they had begun gathering evidence “including seizing cockpit voice and flight data recorders”.

But, a spokesman added, “This is a Chilean investigation.”

Sales Administrator Veronica Martinez said it felt like the plane stopped in mid-air and then “we just fell.”

“People were flying, babies were falling, it was terrible, a lot of people were injured,” she told AFP.

Emergency crews rushed to Auckland Airport to meet the incoming flight, and more than a dozen ambulances and other medical vehicles were dispatched.

Support worker Gabriel Felipe de Oliveira Adaime said the flight was “distressing” while fellow passenger Agustin Ramonda He said it was “one of the worst three seconds of my life.”

Paramedics said they treated about 50 patients. Four people remained in hospital as of Tuesday morning, health officials told AFP.

LATAM Airlines said in a statement that the flight arrived on time.

“Black Swan Event”

Passenger Brian Chocutt said he spoke with one of the pilots after the plane landed.

“I asked him ‘what happened?’ and he said to me, ‘I lost my instrument briefly and then all of a sudden it came back’,” the passenger told New Zealand’s national radio.

Aviation accident safety investigator Joe Hartley told AFP that technical problems were rare with modern aircraft.

“The flight records will be key to understanding this event,” said Hartley, who also teaches at the University of New South Wales in Australia.

“It will tell investigators whether it was an atmospheric event or a technical issue with the aircraft.”

Ashok Poduval, who has 15 years’ experience as a commercial airline pilot and is now chief executive of Massey University’s School of Aviation, said the incident appeared to be an extremely rare “black swan event”.

“Autopilot failure or unexpected clear-air turbulence are some possibilities that could cause a disruption of this nature,” he said.

Data from airline tracker FlightAware showed the plane began losing altitude about two hours into the three-hour flight. But it’s unclear if that’s part of its landing in Auckland.

Security Question

US manufacturer Boeing said it “stands ready to support activities related to the investigation as requested”.

The planemaker has suffered a series of safety issues in recent years, including fatal crashes involving Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines’ 737 MAX aircraft in 2018 and 2019 that killed more than 350 people.

The manufacturer is still reeling from a near-catastrophic accident in January when a fuselage panel exploded on an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 jet during a U.S. flight.

Last week, a Boeing 777 jet bound for Japan had a wheel come off and crash into an airport parking lot shortly after taking off from San Francisco, damaging several cars and forcing it to make an emergency landing.

U.S. regulators earlier this month gave Boeing 90 days to develop a plan to address quality control issues, and the head of the Federal Aviation Administration said the company must “commit to real and profound improvements.”

Boeing shares have fallen 25% since the beginning of the year.

Tim Collins, an upstream aviation consultant, said Boeing has had some production issues, “but overall, most of the planes are good and reliable.”

He said Boeing aircraft account for about 50% of the global jet fleet.

“While some may think twice about Boeing’s reputation, the same thing would happen if an Airbus crashed tomorrow.”