FAA Will Carefully Consider Dreamliner Battery Fix | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-07.07.25

Airborne-NextGen-07.08.25

AirborneUnlimited-07.09.25

Airborne-AffordableFlyers-06.26.25

AirborneUnlimited-06.27.25

Tue, Feb 26, 2013

FAA Will Carefully Consider Dreamliner Battery Fix

No Cause Yet Determined, Agency Says It Won't Rush The Airplane Back To Flight

In May of 1979, an American Airlines DC-10 went down departing Chicago's O'Hare International Airport following the separation of the number one engine from the wing. The accident resulted in the fatal injury of 273 people, including two on the ground.

In January of 2013, the battery of an ANA Dreamliner (pictured in NTSB photo) caught fire while sitting at the gate at Boston Logan International Airport. No one was injured, though other battery issues were soon discovered aboard other Dreamliners.

The Dreamliners have now been grounded longer than the DC-10 feet was following the Chicago accident.

The disparity may be partly due to the fact the the NTSB found that the Chicago accident was attributed to damage caused to the engine pylon during maintenance, and not a design flaw in the airplane. No definitive cause for the battery fire has yet been determined, but most say it will require a re-design of some or all of the components associated with the system. Boeing on Friday proposed a potential fix of the problem to the FAA, which those with knowledge of the proposal say includes modifications to the box which encloses the batteries, better venting of the case, monitoring of individual battery cells, and improved insulation between the cells to prevent thermal runaway.

But the Seattle Times reports that the FAA said following the Friday meeting that it will take Boeing's proposal and "analyze it closely," but the FAA said in a statement that the agency will not rush to get the Dreamliner fleet flying again. “The safety of the flying public is our top priority, and we won’t allow the 787 to return to commercial service until we’re confident that any proposed solution has addressed the battery failure risks,” the statement said.

A preliminary report on the battery incident is not expected from the NTSB until next month, and the FAA is likely to want extensive testing on what ever solution is implemented by the planemaker. Meanwhile, the FAA still says it plans to review the Dreamliner's certification process in an effort to determine how the potential battery issue was missed.

All Nippon Airways and Japan Airline, which operate 24 of the 50 Dreamliners already delivered, also have to contend with the Japan Transport Safety Board, which may be even more conservative than the NTSB.

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

Advertisement

More News

Airborne 07.02.25: TikToker Arrested, Vietnam A/L Ground Hit, ATC Modernization

Also: Outlaw Prop 4 Mooney, Ready 4 Duty, Ukrainian F-16 Pilot Lost, Blue Origin Flt On his journey to become the first pilot to land solo on all seven continents, 19-year-old Etha>[...]

Airborne Affordable Flyers 07.03.25: Sonex HW, BlackShape Gabriel, PRA Fly-In 25

Also: DarkAero Update, Electric Aircraft Symposium, Updated Instructor Guide, OSH Homebuilts Celebrate The long-awaited Sonex High Wing prototype has flown... the Sonex gang tells >[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (07.07.25): Discrete Code

Discrete Code As used in the Air Traffic Control Radar Beacon System (ATCRBS), any one of the 4096 selectable Mode 3/A aircraft transponder codes except those ending in zero zero; >[...]

Classic Aero-TV: DeltaHawk Aero Engine Defies Convention

From 2023 (YouTube Edition): Deviation from the Historical Mean Racine, Wisconsin-based DeltaHawk is a privately-held manufacturer of reciprocating engines for aircraft and hybrid >[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (07.07.25)

Aero Linx: Formation and Safety Team (F.A.S.T.), USA The Formation and Safety Team (FAST) is a worldwide, educational organization dedicated to teaching safe formation flying in Wa>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC