SC Law Firm's Suit Seeks $100M from Boeing After a 787 Took a Steep Dive
- SCCLR Newsletter
- Mar 6
- 3 min read
By: John McDermott
One of the nation's largest personal injury law firms is seeking $100 million in punitive damages from Boeing Co. after one of the planemaker's 787s suddenly plunged while cruising over the South Pacific two years ago.
South Carolina-based Motley Rice LLC filed the complaint in Charleston County on March 5 on behalf of a West Coast couple who are alleging emotional distress, anxiety and other psychological after-effects from the flight.
"This lawsuit concerns a Boeing aircraft with a dangerously defective condition (faulty seat switch on the pilot’s seat) that malfunctioned and resulted in the aircraft going out of control and would have crashed but for the pilot being able to eventually regain control and avert the impending disaster," wrote Motley Rice aviation attorney James Brauchle.
Boeing said it had no comment Friday.
Personal-injury litigation giant Motley Rice is representing Nathaniel and Melanie Deschine. The California couple were among the 50 or so passengers who were hurt when a Latam Airlines 787-9 went into a nosedive while flying at 41,000 feet above the Tasman Sea on March 11, 2024.
The Chilean carrier’s Dreamliner was flying from Australia and New Zealand.
The Deschines suffered bruises during the turbulent plunge, which their lawsuit described as "a horrific ordeal as passengers, luggage and other objects were thrown against the ceiling and tossed around the cabin of the aircraft."
"Passengers were screaming and were in fear of dying, according to the complaint. "Many ... reported that they believed the plane would soon crash."
The lawsuit said that when the seat-adjustment switch malfunctioned, the captain was "propelled forward" into the control instruments, disengaging the autopilot system and "resulting in an abrupt, violent nosedive."
The crew quickly pulled out of the 3,165-foot per-minute descent and flew on to Auckland.
"If you were in your seat, you went straight up to the ceiling and bounced off the roof. I just happened to be one of the lucky ones who was strapped in for that incident," a passenger told ABC News in Australia after the crew safely landed the 787-9.
Days later, Boeing recommended that Dreamliner operators check the motorized cockpit seats next time their wide-body jets were scheduled for maintenance.
In August 2024, the Federal Aviation Administration issued an "urgent" airworthiness directive requiring inspections on about 160 787s after receiving several new reports about the crew-seat switches.
"Boeing knew, or should have known, of this dangerously defective condition ... and Boeing failed and refused to correct this dangerous hazard that endangers the safety and lives of passengers," the newly filed lawsuit said.
The complaint pointed to the airframer's past safety lapses, including two deadly 737 Max crashes in 2018 and 2019 in Indonesia and Ethiopia, as well as the Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 fuselage panel blowout in early 2024 ago over Oregon.
Mount Pleasant-based Motley Rice and the Deschines are requesting a jury trial to determine total damages. No hearings have been scheduled.
Latam had said that the rapid descent was caused by a "technical event," which hasn't affected plans to beef up its 787 fleet. In October 2024, the South American carrier announced it an order for 10 more of the long-haul jets with an option to purchase another five, all to be built in North Charleston.
