More than a thousand Boeing cockpit displays must be replaced because they could be disrupted by Wi-Fi interference
- The Federal Aviation Administration is ordering display unit replacements on Boeing 737 and 777 airplanes
- The display units showed blanking on screens when Wi-Fi-capable devices were in use near them
- The FAA's order will be effective in 35 days
The Federal Aviation Administration is ordering airlines to replace cockpit displays on more than 1,300 Boeing 737- and 777-model airplanes costing nearly $14 million because of concerns regarding Wi-Fi interference, according to an FAA document published in the Federal Register today.
The document, an Airworthiness Directive, makes the action mandatory for any airlines that haven't completed the action, which Boeing recommended to airlines in November 2012.
Boeing works closely with the FAA to ensure safety and the directive is a regulatory step in making already-in-place actions mandatory.
The FAA is giving the airlines five years to comply to the directive by replacing certain Phase 3 display units made by Honeywell International Inc.
The FAA document stated that the display units were tested and failed to tolerate below-average radio frequency emissions due to Wi-Fi frequency bands.
Reuters reports that Independent studies conducted by the FAA and Boeing both showed blanking on display unit screens when Wi-Fi-capable devices were used near them.
Plans: Just two weeks before the Federal Aviation Administration's order, Ray Conner, the CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, planned to boost production of the Boeing 737 model to 52 per month.
The FAA reports that the display units' susceptibilities are not limited to Wi-Fi transmissions and include mobile satellite communications, cell phones, air surveillance and weather radar, and other systems.
The document stated that the FAA's order is to 'prevent loss of flight-critical information displayed to the flight during a critical phase of flight crew, such as an approach or takeoff, which could result in loss of airplane control, at an altitude insufficient for recovery, or controlled flight into terrain.'
Fail: The display units in 737-and 777-model Boeing airplanes were tested and failed to tolerate below-average radio frequency emissions due to Wi-Fi frequency bands.
The FAA's order will be effective in 35 days, forcing airlines to replace the display units in 1,149 737-model airplanes and 177 of the 777-model airplanes -- totaling 1,326 airplanes.
Each display unit replacement on each airplane will cost more than $10,000 with labor for one of each plane totaling $425, according to the FAA document.
This means that, in total, the entire project will cost nearly $14 million.
Millions: Each display unit replacement on each airplane will cost more than $10,000 with labor for one of each plane totaling $425 -- the entire project will cost nearly $14 million.
USA Today reports that the FAA's order comes at a time when gadgets and Wi-Fi-capable devices are increasingly becoming permitted on airplanes.
Manufacturers have reportedly agreed that the devices wouldn't interfere with cockpit navigation and communications equipment.
USA also reported that Southwest Airlines reported that more than 400 of its planes have flown nearly 2.4 million hours without display unit malfunctions.
However, the FAA said that operator reports and the independent study have determined that the display units are a safety issue.
Most watched News videos
- Speeding car flips over on motorway before crashing into lorry
- Hit-and-run driver captured on CCTV after killing a father and son
- Keir Starmer vows to lower voting age to 16 if Labour wins election
- Forensics team investigate the site of Bournemouth double stabbings
- Rishi arrives in Scotland on day one of General Election campaigning
- Moment Ukrainian drone blows Russian assault boat out of the water
- Peek into the underground bunkers that are leading war in Ukraine
- Ukrainian missiles blizzard wreaks havoc on Putin's forces
- China warns of Taiwan war and demonstrates how it will send missiles
- Brits are kicked off sunbeds for trying to bag them before pool opens
- Ukrainian serviceman 'steals T-64 tank and defects to Russia'
- Father and son Hamas rapists reveal how they killed civilians