jueves, 17 de enero de 2013

FAA Forces Boeing, Airlines To Ground All 787 Dreamliner Units: Report - Forbes

A All Nippon Airways' (ANA) Boeing 787 dreamli...

A Boeing 787 dreamliner is pulled by a towing tractor at Tokyo's Haneda airport on January 16, 2013 after a ANA Dreamliner passenger plane made an emergency landing in western Japan after smoke was reportedly seen inside the cockpit. - image credit: AFP/Getty Images via @daylife

UPDATE: After the FAA required all 787 Dreamliners in the U.S. to be grounded, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) followed suit, telling all European airlines to temporarily suspend their 787 units.  Beyond the FAA, the EASA, and Japan's two major airlines, several others adopted the suspension, including LOT Polish Airlines, Lantam Airlines,  Air India, Ethiopian Airlines, and Qatar Airways.  Effectively, all 787 Dreamliners across the globe have been grounded.

Dreamliner problems keep mounting for Boeing. Late on Wednesday, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) required airlines to temporarily suspend all 787 units until their batteries are proven to be safe for flight. Shares in Boeing fell further in the after-hours session.

The FAA told airlines to ground all 787 Dreamliners after a second incident regarding their lithium ion battery raised concerns over the safety of the aircraft. The decision comes a day after Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines decided to ground their complete 787 fleets to conduct emergency checks.

Neither the Boeing nor the FAA were available for comment, even though the latter issued a statement (see below).

The FAA is expecting airlines and Boeing to prove the batteries, which caused the first major incident last week when a battery fire at Boston's Logan Airport, are safe to fly before allowing the aircraft to fly again. The FAA is reportedly willing to cooperate with Boeing and the different airlines to do this as soon as possible.

Earlier in the day, United Continental announced all its 787 units were flying as scheduled. Shares in United Continental were unchanged in the post-market session, as were those of Delta, JetBlue, and Southwest. Boeing was done 2.1% by 6:33 PM in New York after having lost 3.4% during normal market hours.

Below is the FAA's statement:

As a result of an in-flight, Boeing 787 battery incident earlier today in Japan, the FAA will issue an emergency airworthiness directive (AD) to address a potential battery fire risk in the 787 and require operators to temporarily cease operations. Before further flight, operators of U.S.-registered, Boeing 787 aircraft must demonstrate to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that the batteries are safe.

The FAA will work with the manufacturer and carriers to develop a corrective action plan to allow the U.S. 787 fleet to resume operations as quickly and safely as possible.

The in-flight Japanese battery incident followed an earlier 787 battery incident that occurred on the ground in Boston on January 7, 2013. The AD is prompted by this second incident involving a lithium ion battery. The battery failures resulted in release of flammable electrolytes, heat damage, and smoke on two Model 787 airplanes. The root cause of these failures is currently under investigation. These conditions, if not corrected, could result in damage to critical systems and structures, and the potential for fire in the electrical compartment.

Last Friday, the FAA announced a comprehensive review of the 787's critical systems with the possibility of further action pending new data and information. In addition to the continuing review of the aircraft's design, manufacture and assembly, the agency also will validate that 787 batteries and the battery system on the aircraft are in compliance with the special condition the agency issued as part of the aircraft's certification.

United Airlines is currently the only U.S. airline operating the 787, with six airplanes in service. When the FAA issues an airworthiness directive, it also alerts the international aviation community to the action so other civil aviation authorities can take parallel action to cover the fleets operating in their own countries.

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