Three Airplanes Returned To Departure Airports Due To Technical Glitches

Japan Airlines can't seem to catch a break with its Dreamliners, with three flights being forced to return to their departure airports in recent days.

On Thursday, a flight from Moscow to Tokyo was forced to turn around two hours into the flight because the toilets in the plane would not flush, according to the airline. The replacement Dreamliner dispatched to Moscow developed a problem with the anti-skid system.

The French news service AFP reports that the replacement airplane was forced to return to Narita Airport outside Tokyo. A JAL spokesman said that the anti-skid system is not essential to safe operation of the aircraft, and it made a safe landing back in Narita.

The original airplane in Moscow was repaired and completed the flight to Tokyo, making the replacement flight unnecessary, according to the spokesman.

A third Dreamliner scheduled to fly from San Diego to Narita was required to return to the U.S. when a problem developed in the anti-icing system in the right engine. That airplane was repaired and completed its flight after a five-hour delay.

The glitches, described as "minor", are the latest issues to crop up Boeing's new airliner. JAL recently placed an order with Airbus worth an estimated $9.5 billion for A350-XWB airplanes, the first such order in the airline's history.

(JAL Dreamliner pictured in file photo)

FMI: www.boeing.com, www.jal.com