Report fails to reveal cause of 787 battery fire
Mar 7, 2013, 9:39 AM | Updated: 1:08 pm
A new, 48-page interim report fails to reveal a cause of an onboard fire on a Japan Airlines 787 that has grounded the fleet of Boeing jets worldwide. (AP Photo/file)
(AP Photo/file)
A new, 48-page interim report fails to reveal a cause of an onboard fire on a Japan Airlines 787 that has grounded the fleet of Boeing jets worldwide.
It seems clear that the 787 will not resume commercial flights for at least two more months.
The National Transportation Safety Board released what it terms an “interim factual report” along with 499 pages of related documents. The federal agency also announced plans for a forum and an investigative hearing, both scheduled in April, to further analyze the lithium-ion battery technology and the design and certification of the 787 battery system.
It’s unlikely the Federal Aviation Administration will re-authorize passenger flights for the 787 before that.
The fire January 7 at Logan Airport originated in a battery but the exact cause has not been determined.
The interim report reiterates that Boeing dramatically understated the likelihood that one of its lithium-ion batteries could vent smoke, estimating that probability at once in every 10 million flight hours. But it has happened twice in the first 52,000 flight hours, leading to the grounding of all 50 Dreamliners in service worldwide.
You might also be interested in:
Transportation Secretary not sold on proposed Boeing 787 fixes
