Two years after a Latam Airlines flight from Sydney to Auckland took a terrifying plunge, a passenger has been left frustrated by the company’s withdrawal of an offer of compensation.
It comes after the release of a new report into the accident that caused the Boeing 787 to experience a sudden loss of altitude, leading to several passengers being thrown into the roof of the plane and injuring 50 people, with 12 taken to hospital.
A report from Chile’s General Directorate of Civil Aeronautics concludes the incident originated from an accidental movement of the captain’s seat, which exerted pressure on the control column sensor and overrode the autopilot, leading to a temporary loss of control.
Colombian resident Larry Reef was one of the 263 passengers on Latam flight LA800 on March 11, 2024, who “thought the worst” as the plane experienced the “immediate drop”.
Reef, a 49-year-old English teacher from South Africa, said he initially received an offer of US$1500 ($2600) from Latam Airlines – less than half the price of the ticket.
Reef said he was also dealing with “personal matters” immediately after the incident, which meant having to put processing his trauma and entertaining Latam’s offer “on the back burner”.
The incident meant he avoided flying for almost two years: “I actually took a flight to Canada in December, which was the first flight I’d taken since the event.”
Reef was initially advised by a lawyer not to communicate with Latam because a case was being prepared against the airline company in the US, but it never amounted to anything.
When he decided to contact Latam about compensation this year, explaining his situation and lack of communication in the months before, the airline company responded with a renewed offer of US$1500.
But Reef said when he asked if the amount could be reviewed to reflect the price of the ticket and severity of the incident, Latam responded by withdrawing the offer and closed the case – leaving him with nothing.
Reef, who was previously a regular traveller with Latam, said he was “surprised” and “confused” at how the company dealt with the situation.
“I was just wondering if there was any way we could find a solution. I didn’t give them a number, I didn’t say, ‘okay, I want US$3000’, I just wanted to know if there was any way they could relook at this.
“I deeply believe Latam did their best under the circumstances. Nothing can prepare you for something like this. I was just a little surprised by the sort of communication.
“I don’t know if any of the passengers on this flight were able to be compensated.”
Latam Airlines declined to comment when approached by the Herald about Reef’s situation or compensation to other passengers.
Reef managed to escape physical injury from the Latam flight but said trauma from the incident lingered for months.
“I think the first few months were rough,” he said.
After “never missing a class” in his two decades of teaching in Latin America, Reef said he had to take time off following the incident and this led to a loss of income.
“I was just physically, emotionally drained and that’s very unusual for me.”
Reef said he realised the impact the incident had on him mentally two months later after reading news of a deadly Singapore Airlines flight from London to Changi that experienced “severe turbulence”, killing one man and injuring 104.
“Ordinarily that incident wouldn’t really impact me, but after reading about it, I just burst into tears. I don’t know if that’s like a sort of delayed post traumatic stress that I had heard I was going to probably experience.
“Things were still pretty raw. I probably underestimated the severity of the incident.”
Despite his frustrations with Latam, Reef said he is now feeling a lot better.
“I took a bit of strain at the beginning, but obviously two years down the line, I’m in a much better headspace.”
The General Directorate of Civil Aeronautics released a final report into the Latam Airlines’ incident last month.
It concludes the aircraft upset originated from an accidental seat movement of the captain’s seat, which was dislodged when a flight attendant entered the cockpit to collect trays.
The abnormal position of the seat switch caused “uncontrolled movement of [the captain’s] seat forward”, the report says.
“This pressure exceeded the permitted limits of the autopilot, which resulted in its inadvertent disconnection, causing a momentary loss of control of the flight.”
The report says “more radical measures” are needed to avoid a repeat of the incident.
“Even though after the occurrence of the event, both the manufacturer of the seat and the aircraft have established corrective measures to avoid the repetition of the detected failure, it has continued to occur,” the report says.
“In other words, corrective actions have not delivered the expected results, a situation that merits the adoption of more radical measures to prevent future repetitions.”
In 2017, Boeing released a service bulletin to operators of its 787 variants with advice to apply adhesives to the pilot seat switch caps to prevent them from coming loose.
The operator had not applied this advice to the seat involved in the accident.
Reef said the report provided clarity, but was also “a little concerning”.
“In some ways it does provide a bit more clarity about what happened that day, which I appreciate. At the time, everything happened so suddenly that it was difficult to understand what had caused such a dramatic movement of the aircraft.
“At the same time, reading that similar issues have continued to occur even after corrective measures were introduced is a little concerning. Like many passengers on that flight, it was quite a frightening experience, so naturally it’s reassuring to know investigators are looking closely at preventing something like this from happening again.”
In a statement to the Herald, Latam Airlines said it has “taken note” of the report.
“Latam Airlines Group reinforces that, immediately following the event, it inspected all seats in the Boeing 787 fleet and implemented the technical improvements established by the seat manufacturer and the airworthiness directive from the US Federal Aviation Administration, issued after the incident.
“Latam reiterates that safety is the core pillar of its operation and that it maintains ongoing collaboration with aviation authorities.”