Boeing 777 and 737 cockpit display change: WiFi threat to pilots' display

The affected Boeing control panel displays are susceptible to interference from Wi-Fi devices intended for routine use by many pilots during flights, according to the FAA document. 

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New electronic display units are to be fitted in the cockpits of Boeing 737 and 777 airliners to address fears that Wi-Fi signals might cause them to go blank in flight.

In an airworthiness directive published Wednesday, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said the switchover involves 1,149 late-model 737s and 177 777s in the United States alone.

The Federal Aviation Administration's safety directive, released Tuesday, aims to ensure that essential information such as airspeed, altitude and heading doesn't temporarily disappear from certain instrument displays manufactured by Honeywell International Inc.

Each installation is estimated to cost about $10,000, said the agency, which set a five-year deadline for the work to be completed.

"We are issuing this (directive) to prevent loss of flight-critical information displayed to the flight crew during a critical phase of flight, such as an approach or takeoff," it said.

Such an incident "could result in loss of airplane control at an altitude insufficient for recovery, or controlled flight into terrain," it added.

Display units are computer screens that give pilots vital in-flight information, such as altitude, airspeed, compass heading and the aircraft's attitude relative to the horizon.

The airworthiness directive—aviation's version of an automotive recall, was prompted by fears that Wi-Fi signals might interfere with a display unit, making it go blank.

Satellite Wi-Fi is being added to a growing number of commercial airliners, enabling passengers to log on to the Internet from 35,000 feet (10,000 meters).

In a statement, Honeywell International, which manufactures the display units, said that none of the devices have ever failed in flight due to Wi-Fi interference.

"The only know occurrence was during a developmental test conducted on the ground," it said, adding that, working with Boeing, it has already come up with new display hardware.

US Boeing 738 Makes Emergency Landing with Large Hole in Fuselage

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Southwest Airlines Co. inspected about 200 planes overnight after a football-sized hole opened up in the passenger cabin of a jet in flight, forcing an emergency landing in West Virginia.

Travelers on the Boeing 737 aircraft could see through the 1-foot-by-1-foot hole that appeared during the flight Monday.

The cabin lost pressure, but no one was injured on the Nashville-to-Baltimore flight with 126 passengers and five crew members on board.

Passenger Brian Cunningham told NBC's "Today" show Tuesday that he had dozed off in his seat in mid-cabin when he was awakened by "the loudest roar I'd ever heard."He said the hole was above his seat. People stayed calm and put on the oxygen masks that dropped from the ceiling."

After we landed in Charleston, the pilot came out and looked up through the hole, and everybody applauded, shook his hand, a couple of people gave him hugs," Cunningham said.

It's not clear what caused the damage. The incident occurred just four months after Southwest agreed to pay $7.5 million to settle charges that it operated planes that had missed required safety inspections for cracks in the fuselage.

Southwest spokeswoman Marilee McInnis said the airline inspected 200 Boeing 737-300-series jets overnight at hangars around the country and discovered no other similar problems." It was a walk-around visual inspection just to check for structural integrity," McInnis said.