December 1, 2016 at 11:05 am
FAA orders Boeing 787 safety fix: Reboot power once in a while
Boeing & Aerospace | The Seattle Times
The FAA is mandating that operators of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner periodically reset the power on the airplane to avoid a glitch that could cause all three computer modules that manage the jet’s flight control surfaces to briefly stop working while in flight.
Operators must periodically shut off and restart the electrical power on the planes, or the power to the three flight control modules. That will avoid the problem until Boeing comes up with a permanent software fix.
In an airworthiness directive scheduled to be published Friday, the FAA said it is reacting to indications that “all three flight control modules on the 787 might simultaneously reset if continuously powered on for 22 days.”
The FAA said such a simultaneous reset in flight “could result in flight control surfaces not moving in response to flight crew inputs for a short time and consequent temporary loss of controllability.”