There are no shortage of stories in the news recently about failings of Boeing commercial planes.
So far, we’ve only seen injuries, not fatalities, but it’s hard not to feel like the worst is yet to come.
I imagine this pilot, who had his gauges go blank as the plane started to nosedive, was more than a little panicked.
The flight took off from Australia and was headed to New Zealand when the pilot lost control of the Boeing 787.
All of the plane’s instruments, he says, went completely blank.
Passenger Brian Jokat spoke with several news outlets to describe the terrifying event.
“The plane dropped something to the effect of 500 feet instantly. That’s when I opened my eyes and there was various individuals at the top of the plane. Just stuck to the roof and then they fell to the floor. And then I just realized I’m not in a movie, this is actually for real.”
Once the plane stabilized and things were back on track, Jokat says he asked the pilot what happened.
“I immediately engaged with him and said, ‘What was that?’ And he openly admitted, ‘I lost control of the plane. My gauges just kind of went blank on me.'”
Then the gauges just came back on and he could fly again.
The nosedive resulted in 50 injuries and 13 hospitalizations and is being investigated by local aviation authorities.
Boeing is already facing public and official scrutiny over the rash of malfunctioning planes and questions about their quality control procedures.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is auditing the company’s 737 planes and trying to get answers to what might be behind a whole host of issues.
Until we figure out what’s going on, I’m going to go out of my way to book flights on other planes.
It’s getting a little too common to read about Boeing’s near-misses.
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