Two Days Set Aside To Probe January 7th Incident That Grounded The Dreamliner Fleet

The NTSB announced Monday that its two-day investigative hearing into the Jan. 7 battery fire aboard a Boeing 787 at Boston’s Logan Airport will be held on April 23-24 at the NTSB Board Room and Conference Center in Washington, D.C.

The hearing will focus on issues relating to the design, testing and certification of the battery system.

A detailed agenda, list of panelists and witnesses, and media information will be released at a later date

The hearing comes as Boeing is flight testing a potential solution to the problems that caused a battery fire in a JAL Dreamliner early this year which led to the grounding of the entire fleet of 49 Dreamliners in revenue service. The FAA approved the flight tests of the new battery design, which includes a more robust and better-vented enclosure for the batteries, additional insulation between battery cells, and updates in the charging system.

A Dreamliner conducted a two-hour flight Monday from Paine Field to Moses Lake, but the Everett, WA, Herald newspaper reports that Boeing said it was not part of the battery certification program. In a statement e-mailed to the media, Boeing spokesman Marc Birtel said that "the battery certification demonstration flight will take place in the coming days."

FMI: www.ntsb.gov, www.boeing.com