FAA has issued an airworthiness directive to initiate checks of all Boeing 787 Dreamliners registered in the US. The move comes because of the disengaging decompression panels on the aircraft type.

The increased scrutiny of the Boeing 787 Dreamliners started four months after the FAA lifted the ban on operating Boeing 787 MAX that lasted almost two years. The first directive concerning the decompression panels was issued in March. It mandated thorough visual inspection of the bilge barriers on around 220 Dreamliners to locate any disengaged or damaged decompression panels. The disengaged panels had to be reinstalled. The latest directive extends the number of targeted aircraft to all Boeing 787 Dreamliners in the US registry.

Damaged decompression panels cause a threat as a leak in the bilge area could lead to insufficient Halon concentrations. It would then be impossible to control any fire in the aircraft‘s cargo area properly.