FAA Warns Boeing 787 Radio Can Cut Off Air Traffic Radio Without Notice

[justaprogressive]

In a little-noticed Federal Aviation Administration filing last month, federal regulators requested comments on a proposed rule that would mandate Boeing update a critical communications malfunction in their 787 Dreamliner plane that could lead to disastrous accidents.

According to reports received by the FAA, very high frequency (VHF) radio channels are transferring between the active and standby settings without flight crew input. “The uncommanded frequency changes could result in missed communications between the flightcrew and Air Traffic Control,” the FAA announcement reads. The proposed FAA rule would instruct the aeronautics company to address the problem by updating software that controls the in-flight radio.

Comments left on the FAA’s website regarding the new rule suggest both consumers and airline operators are still feeling uneasy with Boeing. “Given Boeing’s history of slipshod management and prioritization of profits over passenger safety, I would not fly on one of their planes if you paid me to do so,” one anonymous user wrote.
Even more concerning is a comment written by Qatar Airways, which claims that even after the software patch recommended by the FAA was installed on its Boeing fleet, communication problems have persisted.

“Qatar Airways already modified all affected B787 airplanes with … new LSAPs on all Tuning Control Panels (TCP) to address Un-commanded VHF Frequency Change between active and standby,” the comment reads. “However … Qatar Airways flight crew are still reporting similar issues from post-mod airplanes. QTR already reported the events to Boeing/Collins aerospace for further investigation and root cause determination … As of now, Qatar believes that the issue is not completely addressed, and the unsafe condition still exists.”

https://prospect.org/infrastructure/transportation/2025-04-04-faa-warns-boeing-787-radio-can-cut-off-air-traffic-control/

[Grins]

1. That's not Boeing. That's the avionics supplier.

And a “proposed ruling…?”

The FAA could issue an emergency AD - today!

[haele]

2. Agreed, these big companies depend on smaller specialty sub-contractors for software.

My brother works for a small company that makes heads-up displays for smaller commuter and business jets, even they don't have a full in-house software group handling all their systems; they have a software integration/QA group that uses software commissioned or purchased from other companies.
I'm curious how a "reputable" avionics company can miss a problem like this though; it sounds as if there's a maintenance shop or time-out line of code left where it isn't supposed to be, and no one at Boeing knows enough about Radios, Firmware or Software to figure out where the error was left.