Nearly Half of Boeing Dreamliners Grounded
Had two safety issues in a week
Two Japanese airliners have grounded their Boeing 787 Dreamliners after an overheated battery aboard an All Nippon Airlines flight forced pilots to make an emergency landing Wednesday. It was the second significant issue involving the batteries on the Dreamliner in the past week, and suggests electrical problems with the all-new composite airliner could run deeper than first believed.
The decisions by ANA and Japan Airliners to ground their planes pending an investigation means 24 of the 50 Dreamliners that Boeing has delivered thus far are idle, and indicates the company may be facing a more serious issue than the routine glitches experienced with all new airliners.
The latest problem occurred aboard ANA Flight 692, a domestic flight bound for Tokyo, when a warning in the cockpit indicated a problem with a battery and the pilots reported smelling smoke. The plane landed safely at Takamatsu airport in western Japan; the 137 passengers and crew evacuated via emergency slides. Fire crews found no evidence of a fire, according to Japanese television station NHK. ANA immediately grounded its fleet of 17 Dreamliners; Japan Airlines then idled its seven Dreamliners.
Hide Comments (0)
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post commentsMute this user?
Ban this user?
Un-ban this user?
Nuke this user?
Un-nuke this user?
Flag this comment?
Un-flag this comment?