Japan’s two main airlines have grounded their fleets of Boeing 787 Dreamliners after one had to make an emergency landing because of battery problems. It’s the latest and most serious setback for the Dreamliner, which Boeing has billed as the future of aviation. Tony Dixon, editor of Airliner World magazine, says an uncontrollable fire breaking out on board an aircraft represents more than just the usual teething problems suffered by new planes
By: Tom Spender, Boeing’s Dreamliner has only been in service for just over a year, but the aircraft’s debut is turning into something of a nightmare after Japan’s two main airlines grounded their entire fleets until further notice. Today All Nippon Airways flights from Tokyo were forced to make an emergency landing after a lithium battery began omitting smoke. Dramatic pictures showed the plane of the runway with its emergency chutes deployed and the fire engine in attendance. The airline said a number of people sustain slight injuries as 129 passengers and 8 crew members were evacuated. It’s the latest and most serious problem with the Dreamliner following complaints of fuel leaks and cracked cockpit window, break problems and an electrical fire. Japan’s Transport Minister Akihiro Ota told reporters that people might not want to travel in Dreamliners in the future. "Looking at this from the point of view of the average citizen, having this sort of incidents occur seemingly day after day, one could become very uneasy. We will convey the message to those who operate the plane that it is absolutely necessary to be safe." Even before today’s emergency landing Boeing was already facing an inquiry by Japanese and U.S. authorities over issues with the Dreamliner whose manufacture was beset by overrunning costs and production delays. And Tony Dixon, editor of Airliner World magazine, says the Dreamliner appears to be suffering more than usual problems that often occur with the new plane: There’ve been two or three instances now, and it’s the batteries that charge the APU. The problem is there’s no fire protection system at the moment. To solve it is probably not that difficult. It’s just the latest in what is becoming an annoying series of problems that Boeing has had with the airplane. All Nippon Airways says the Dreamliner’s pilots saw computer warnings of smoke inside an electrical compartment and problems with the battery in the forward cargo hold. That battery was of the same type as the battery involved in a fire on a Japan Airlines’ Dreamliner at an American airport last week. Lithium batteries in laptop computers and in mobile phones can spontaneously combust. In 2011 a U.S.-government study concluded that fire started by lithium batteries in laptops and phones would cause an American cargo plane to crush every other year. But Dixon doesn’t believe that passengers will boycott the Dreamliners over batteries’ fire fears. Unfortunately, public has a short memory and by the time the first aircraft gets to the UK, which is end of February – beginning of March, it would possibly be that all the problems have been sold. Although they’ll probably be other little things that happen, as in the first couple of years with the 838. But now the 838 provide excellent service to all its operators. It doesn’t help, of course, that Boeing is three years late with the delivery and they already had a lot of problems with the airplane. The Japanese Airlines say they’ll make a decision about future Dreamliner use tomorrow, but the difficulty the airline faces is that they don’t have an easy alternative, because of the lag time of several years between ordering a plane and its delivery. If you’re buying Dreamliner now, you’re going to get it in six years. Your minimum waiting time to buy an airplane is 3-4 years. You can extend the leasing of the ones you have, or you might be able to, but the leasing company expecting your airplane to be ready the end of this month, for instance, might already have leased it to another airline next month. They’ll demand compensation – anything to make the airplane cheaper, but that’s something we’ll never find out – how much compensation it already has been offered for a two-year delay, for instance. They tend to keep that quite close to their chests. The only time you find that is when a program starts. So far, there’re 49 Dreamliners in service around the world and Boeing says they’re the future of aviation. The 207-million-dollar aircraft is made of lightweight composite material and uses 15% to 20% less fuel than its predecessors, the 767 and 757. Source: Voice of Russia
