(Reuters) – Flight deck seat transfers are a key focus of the investigation into the sudden mid-air dive of a Latin American Airlines Boeing 787 that injured more than 50 people, airline industry publication Air Current said on Wednesday. reported.
The plane, which was flying from Sydney to Auckland on Monday, suddenly crashed before stabilizing, throwing all those on board.
The report said based on available information, the seat movement was understood to be “unintentional and pilot-induced”, citing a senior aviation safety official.
Citing another unnamed source, the newspaper said the seat movement caused the plane to be at a “nose-down” angle, adding that the possibility of an electrical short circuit was also being considered.
According to a report in Air Current, Boeing plans to issue a message to 787 airline operators regarding the incident, suggesting that the issue may be related to the aircraft as a whole, but not specifically. The magazine says it does not know the details.
Boeing declined to comment on the report and instead referred Reuters to the investigating agency.
Chile’s aviation regulator, which is leading the investigation given the Chilean airline flies in international airspace, said the investigation was “just beginning” and investigators had arrived in New Zealand.
Latin America said it “continues to work with authorities to assist in the investigation” and said it would be inappropriate to comment on widespread speculation.
The Chile-based flight, carrying 263 passengers and nine crew members, was scheduled to stop in Auckland before heading to Santiago.
The cause of the flight’s apparently sudden change in trajectory remains unexplained. Safety experts say most aircraft accidents are caused by a combination of factors that require thorough investigation.
New Zealand’s Transport Accident Investigation Commission said on Tuesday it had seized the flight’s cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder, which provide information about conversations between pilots and the movement of the plane.
(Reporting by Chandni Shah and Mrinmay Dey in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Natalia Ramos in Santiago; Editing by Jamie Freed)
