The computer user refrain of “unplug it and plug it back in again” now applies to Boeing 787s. On Dec. 2, the FAA issued an airworthiness directive that required operators of all Dreamliners to power their aircraft down completely and turn them back on again by Dec. 9. The order came after the FAA said it “received reports” (it didn’t say from whom) that if an aircraft was left running for more than 21 days, all three flight control modules (the central control computer and both backups) could simultaneously reset on their own on Day 22.
If that had happened in flight, the results would have been at least interesting but it wasn’t likely. As reliable and relentlessly productive as the aircraft have proven to be (Qantas just launched a 9,000-mile, 17.5-hour flight from London to Perth, Australia), they all reportedly get breaks for one thing or another and don’t go more than a week without the lights on. Nevertheless, operators of the 500 or so Dreamliners were anticipated to have complied with the order to shut down the aircraft by Dec. 9 and never let them go more than 21 days without a rest from now on.
