- 50 people were injured when a Boeing 787 suddenly fell in midair on Monday.
- LATAM Airlines described it as an “artistic event”.
- The pilot's seat was moved to the controls when the flight attendant pressed the switch, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Monday LATAM Airlines incident The Wall Street Journal reported that the cause may have been caused by a flight attendant accidentally hitting a switch in the cockpit.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner was flying from Sydney to Auckland when it suddenly crashed.
The New Zealand Herald reported that paramedics treated 50 people, 12 of whom were sent to hospital.
Passengers described seeing others “stuck on the roof” after the sudden movement.
In a statement on Monday, a Latam Airlines spokesperson told Business Insider that there was a “technical event during the flight that caused a strong motion.” The Boeing 787 pilot said the plane's gauges “were kind of blank for me,” one passenger told CNN.
The magazine's report indicates that the problem was not technical, but rather a mishap in the cockpit. The newspaper quoted unnamed officials who had seen preliminary evidence from the investigation.
Officials told the newspaper that while the meal was being served, the flight attendant pressed the pilot's seat switch. This then triggered a feature that pushed the pilot and his seat forward toward the controls, pointing the plane's nose down, they added.
The newspaper reported that the key on the pilot's seat has a cover and is not supposed to be used when there is someone in the seat.
According to the newspaper, Boeing is expected to issue a memorandum on seat replacement for all airlines operating 787 Dreamliner aircraft.
Latam Airlines told Business Insider that it continues to work in coordination with the authorities to support the investigation, and notes that it is not appropriate to comment on the speculation that has been circulated.
Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI, which was sent outside US business hours.
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