Thursday 16 May 2013

Dreamliner: Boeing resumes deliveries of 787


Aviation Nigeria

Boeing says it has resumed deliveries of its 787 Dreamliner, after two incidents involving the lithium ion batteries led to a worldwide grounding of the aircraft.

Boeing has delivered a modified jet to Japan’s All Nippon Airways, which will restart Dreamliner flights on 1 June.

Regulators halted all Dreamliners after ANA and Japan Airlines had incidents where the battery overheated.

Boeing has since modified the jets with new batteries.

The US Federal Aviation Administration gave Boeing’s redesigned battery system approval on 19 April. Boeing then modified existing fleets for airlines as well as new batteries which run at a cooler temperature. Boeing has also enclosed them in stainless steel boxes.

The system now has a ventilation pipe that leads directly outside the plane, which Boeing says will lower the chances of any future fire or smoke affecting the aircraft.

Ethiopian Airlines was the first to restart commercial flights on 27 April. Other airlines will begin services later in May or in June.

The delivery to ANA is the first handover of a modified 787 from Boeing factories. Boeing had delivered 50 Dreamliners to airlines at the time of the grounding. The company said on Tuesday that it expected to achieve its target of delivering more than 60 Dreamliners this year. The US National Transportation Safety Board is still looking into what caused the 787 battery to overheat and catch fire on a Japan Airlines plane in Boston in January.

About one week later, another battery overheated on an ANA flight in Japan, causing an emergency landing and evacuation of the plane.


Source: BBC

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