The FAA has a new rule for Boeing 787 operators and it's basically, "Hey, reboot your plane now and then." Why? The jet has a bug that means if it is not periodically rebooted, its flight-control surfaces can freeze up in flight.

According to The Seattle Times, the FAA's new rules require operators to reboot the plane's electrical system every now and then because "all three flight control modules on the 787 might simultaneously reset if continuously powered on for 22 days." The effect of this simultaneous reset "could result in flight control surfaces not moving in response to flight crew inputs for a short time and consequent temporary loss of controllability." In the meantime, Boeing tells theTimes it is working on a fix, which should come in the second quarter of 2017.

The 787 isn't the only plane that has had this sort of problem. The long-troubled F-35 also suffered from a radar glitch that required pilots to reboot the system before they could use it. The fix might seem a little low-tech for cutting edge cutting edge jets—both passenger and fighter alike. Still, it beats having a bug that you can't fix with a simple reboot.

Source: The Seattle Times via PC Mag