Boeing plans to carry on with 787 production

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

By JOSHUA FREED

Boeing plans to keep building its flagship jetliner while engineers try to solve battery problems that have grounded most of the 787 fleet.

It's not clear how long the investigation - or the fix - will take. But it won't be cheap for Boeing or for the airlines that had sought the prestige of flying the world's most sophisticated passenger plane - a marvel of aviation technology that right now can't even leave the tarmac, let alone cross continents and oceans.

Boeing's newest jet was grounded worldwide Thursday after one suffered a battery fire and another had to make an emergency landing because pilots smelled something burning. Airlines and regulators canceled all Dreamliner flights.

The groundings were a sign of how seriously regulators take any threat of an in-flight fire. National Transportation Safety Board photos of the battery container from a Jan. 7 fire on a Japan Airlines plane showed a blue box with black smudges and blackened wiring and batteries inside.

FULL story at link.


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20130118/DA3SAPUG3.html

---

An official carries a main battery that was removed off an electrical room beneath the cockpit of an All Nippon Airways 787 at Takamatsu airport in Takamatsu, western Japan, Thursday, Jan. 17, 2013. The battery forced to make the emergency at the airport was swollen from overheating, a safety official said Thursday, as India and Europe joined the U.S. and Japan in grounding the technologically advanced aircraft because of fire risk. (AP Photo/Kyodo News) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT, NO LICENSING IN CHINA, HONG KONG, JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA AND FRANCE

[DemoTex]

1. The 787 is waaaay too electric IMEO (in my expert opinion)

Pneumatics and hydraulics aren't all bad.

[liberal N proud]

2. Lithium, 40 thousand feet, freezing/thawing and condensation

What could go wrong?


Sounds like moisture is getting to the lithium.

[Blue_Tires]

6. I've lurked on some airliner/pilot forums, and the speculative consensus seems to be:

minor problems; quick fixes:
1. Faulty/below spec batteries from manufacturer
2. Wiring mistake causing overcharging

major problems; plane will be grounded for a longer time:
3. The 787's overall electrical demand is too high
4. One or more of the plane's systems isn't behaving as it should

[PoliticAverse]

3. They just need to put a sticker on the body when they're sold: "Batteries not included".

[YOHABLO]

4. Reminds me of the De Havilland Comet produced in 1949 .. several crashes

I won't be flying on it. I think, only United Airlines flies the Dream Liner.

[Blue_Tires]

5. The Comet was a little different...

Because at the birth of the jet age, there was still so much unknown in that era about metal fatigue and pressurization cycles...Or even how to investigate why an aircraft crashed then....

But I think the 787 will be fine -- Pinpoint the problem, devise a solution, get that solution inspected and certified, and the birds are flying again...There's so much hysteria right now that people think it's a death trap, which isn't the case...