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UA Boeing 787 Dreamliner
As of 1/16/13, the United States is grounding its Dreamliners until it is satisfied that safety issues have been addressed. In the meantime, despite the groundings, Air New Zealand says it still remains committed to the purchase of these aircraft with delivery scheduled in 2014.
Top U.S. transportation officials said on January 23, 2013 (US time), they still have not determined the cause of electrical problems that have grounded the Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet globally, but added they are continuing a thorough probe and promised transparency once a cause is found.
"We are evaluating data. We don't know what is causing these incidents yet," Federal Aviation Administration chief Michael Huerta told reporters.
Huerta and his boss, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, peppered with questions about the grounded plane at an industry event in Washington, promised that the public would be informed about any problems that investigators turn up.
"There will be total transparency," LaHood said. "People will know what we looked at, what we found, if something needed to be corrected. There will be total transparency."
Huerta also explained why the FAA allowed the aircraft to fly on January 11 after a battery caught fire on a plane in Boston -- but grounded it following a 787 emergency landing in Japan four days later prompted by a battery alarm and a report of a burning smell.
"The second incident occurred in flight," Huerta said. "And that for us was an important consideration where we needed to identify what was causing these power- and battery-related incidents."
The National Transportation Safety Board, the FAA, Japanese aviation authorities, and Boeing are investigating the matter.
During an address at the event, LaHood expressed confidence in Boeing's ability to build safe aircraft.
"Our goal is to get this (Dreamliner review) done as quickly as possible," he said, adding that the FAA needs "to get to the bottom of the recent issues."
Currently, United Airlines is the only U.S. airline with 787s with six. Worldwide, there are 50 in service but several hundred on order at Boeing.
LaHood declined to speculate on how long the FAA's review would take.
"I'm not going to comment in the middle of their review. Frankly I haven't talked to them," LaHood said. "We need to let them finish their work. These are expert people. They'll get to the bottom it and then we'll let all of you know what they find out." - CNN report
In news from January 24, 2013, United States safety regulators say they are nowhere near finishing an investigation into a battery fire on a Boeing 787 in Boston, raising the prospect of a prolonged grounding of the Dreamliner plane.
Airlines have cancelled hundreds of flights in the eight days since the plane was grounded, and Boeing has stopped deliveries of newly built jets.
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) chairwoman Deborah Hersman says investigators have found a series of symptoms in the fire-damaged battery, but not the underlying cause of the problem.
"We are early in our investigation, we have a lot of activities to undertake," she said.
"This is an unprecedented event. We are very concerned.
"We do not expect to see fire events on board aircraft.
"This is a very serious air safety concern."
Ms Hersman rebuffed multiple questions on how long the investigation would take, making it clear it could take weeks or more.
She also would not say when the plane would fly again, a verdict which is in the hands of the Federal Aviation Administration.
"It is really very hard to tell at this point how long this investigation will take. We have all hands on deck," Ms Hersman said.
"We're working as hard as we can to identify what the failure mode is here and what corrective actions need to be taken."
The planes have been grounded worldwide since an All Nippon Airways plane made an emergency landing in Japan on January 16 after a battery incident, which Ms Hersman said may or may not have been a fire.
The landing came after a fire occurred on a Japan Airlines 787 on the tarmac in Boston.
Former NTSB chairman Mark Rosenker said other new planes had problems when they were introduced, but not fires, which makes this situation stand out.
"Fire is something you don't fool with. You've got to understand that, particularly given the short period of time the aircraft has been flying," he said.
Boeing was not immediately available to comment on the latest NTSB statement.
France's Thales, which makes the 787 battery system, declined to comment.
The NTSB and its Japanese equivalent are working together on their probes.
Boeing's 787 program was already years behind schedule before last week's grounding, which means the company cannot deliver newly manufactured planes to customers.
Customers like United Continental Holdings may now have to wait even longer for planes on order.
But United chairman and chief executive officer Jeff Simsek say "history teaches us that all new aircraft types have issues and the 787 is no different".
"We continue to have confidence in the aircraft and in Boeing's ability to fix the issues, just as they have done on every other new aircraft model they've produced."
The full financial impact on plane-maker Boeing is still not clear.
Despite the investigation, Boeing shares are actually up 1.3 per cent since regulators said the plane, full of high-tech innovations that are supposed to be a model for future aviation, could not fly. - ABC News.
UA Boeing 787 Dreamliner
As of 1/16/13, the United States is grounding its Dreamliners until it is satisfied that safety issues have been addressed. In the meantime, despite the groundings, Air New Zealand says it still remains committed to the purchase of these aircraft with delivery scheduled in 2014.
Top U.S. transportation officials said on January 23, 2013 (US time), they still have not determined the cause of electrical problems that have grounded the Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet globally, but added they are continuing a thorough probe and promised transparency once a cause is found.
"We are evaluating data. We don't know what is causing these incidents yet," Federal Aviation Administration chief Michael Huerta told reporters.
Huerta and his boss, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, peppered with questions about the grounded plane at an industry event in Washington, promised that the public would be informed about any problems that investigators turn up.
"There will be total transparency," LaHood said. "People will know what we looked at, what we found, if something needed to be corrected. There will be total transparency."
Huerta also explained why the FAA allowed the aircraft to fly on January 11 after a battery caught fire on a plane in Boston -- but grounded it following a 787 emergency landing in Japan four days later prompted by a battery alarm and a report of a burning smell.
"The second incident occurred in flight," Huerta said. "And that for us was an important consideration where we needed to identify what was causing these power- and battery-related incidents."
The National Transportation Safety Board, the FAA, Japanese aviation authorities, and Boeing are investigating the matter.
During an address at the event, LaHood expressed confidence in Boeing's ability to build safe aircraft.
"Our goal is to get this (Dreamliner review) done as quickly as possible," he said, adding that the FAA needs "to get to the bottom of the recent issues."
Currently, United Airlines is the only U.S. airline with 787s with six. Worldwide, there are 50 in service but several hundred on order at Boeing.
LaHood declined to speculate on how long the FAA's review would take.
"I'm not going to comment in the middle of their review. Frankly I haven't talked to them," LaHood said. "We need to let them finish their work. These are expert people. They'll get to the bottom it and then we'll let all of you know what they find out." - CNN report
In news from January 24, 2013, United States safety regulators say they are nowhere near finishing an investigation into a battery fire on a Boeing 787 in Boston, raising the prospect of a prolonged grounding of the Dreamliner plane.
Airlines have cancelled hundreds of flights in the eight days since the plane was grounded, and Boeing has stopped deliveries of newly built jets.
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) chairwoman Deborah Hersman says investigators have found a series of symptoms in the fire-damaged battery, but not the underlying cause of the problem.
"We are early in our investigation, we have a lot of activities to undertake," she said.
"This is an unprecedented event. We are very concerned.
"We do not expect to see fire events on board aircraft.
"This is a very serious air safety concern."
Ms Hersman rebuffed multiple questions on how long the investigation would take, making it clear it could take weeks or more.
She also would not say when the plane would fly again, a verdict which is in the hands of the Federal Aviation Administration.
"It is really very hard to tell at this point how long this investigation will take. We have all hands on deck," Ms Hersman said.
"We're working as hard as we can to identify what the failure mode is here and what corrective actions need to be taken."
The planes have been grounded worldwide since an All Nippon Airways plane made an emergency landing in Japan on January 16 after a battery incident, which Ms Hersman said may or may not have been a fire.
The landing came after a fire occurred on a Japan Airlines 787 on the tarmac in Boston.
Former NTSB chairman Mark Rosenker said other new planes had problems when they were introduced, but not fires, which makes this situation stand out.
"Fire is something you don't fool with. You've got to understand that, particularly given the short period of time the aircraft has been flying," he said.
Boeing was not immediately available to comment on the latest NTSB statement.
France's Thales, which makes the 787 battery system, declined to comment.
The NTSB and its Japanese equivalent are working together on their probes.
Boeing's 787 program was already years behind schedule before last week's grounding, which means the company cannot deliver newly manufactured planes to customers.
Customers like United Continental Holdings may now have to wait even longer for planes on order.
But United chairman and chief executive officer Jeff Simsek say "history teaches us that all new aircraft types have issues and the 787 is no different".
"We continue to have confidence in the aircraft and in Boeing's ability to fix the issues, just as they have done on every other new aircraft model they've produced."
The full financial impact on plane-maker Boeing is still not clear.
Despite the investigation, Boeing shares are actually up 1.3 per cent since regulators said the plane, full of high-tech innovations that are supposed to be a model for future aviation, could not fly. - ABC News.