Japan Airlines 787 Dreamliner forced to return to Boston
Jul 18, 2013, 2:58 PM | Updated: Jul 19, 2013, 7:36 am
A Japan Airlines 787 heading for Tokyo turned around over Canada and returned to Boston for a potential fuel pump issue.
The plane landed Thursday evening without assistance from Logan Airport’s fire equipment.
Flight 007 returned to Boston “as a standard precautionary measure” to check out a maintenance message indicator showing the possible fuel pump problem and landed safely, Japan Airlines spokeswoman Carol Anderson said.
The pilot didn’t declare an emergency, and the aircraft burned off fuel before landing, Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Arlene Salac said.
The website Flightaware shows the 787 Dreamliner was over Hudson’s Bay in northern Canada when it turned around and returned.
The plane left for Tokyo just before 1 p.m. Thursday for a flight of nearly 14 hours. It returned just before 6:30 p.m.
The flight was canceled, and passengers were being put on other flights.
The incident is just the latest in a series of problems that have plagued the Dreamliner.
An Ethiopian Airlines 787 caught fire at London’s Heathrow Airport last week, raising new concerns about Boeing’s newest jetliner. That incident has now been blamed on an emergency location transmitter.
One of two battery fires that grounded the 787s for three months broke out on a Japan Airlines plane at Logan in January after passengers had exited. The next day, another Japan Airlines 787 leaked 40 gallons of fuel at Logan. The airline said an open valve caused a tank to overflow through a vent.
The 787 is the newest and highest-profile plane from Boeing, which has said it stands behind its safety and overall integrity. The 787 is assembled at Boeing plants in Everett, Wash., and North Charleston, S.C.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
