Boeing Dreamliner test flight goes off without a hitch

The first Dreamliner test flight since the groundings went off without a hitch over the weekend and Boeing plans more flights this week.

Test plane number 5 flew for two hours and 19 minutes on Saturday, making a round trip from Boeing Field.

Thirteen people were on board using specialized equipment to test and monitor both lithium-ion batteries.

The crew reported an uneventful flight and Boeing declined to give any additional details.

Boeing plans to continue test flights this week, although they haven’t given flight schedules in advance.

All 50 in-service 787’s have been grounded for nearly a month after two battery fires.

On Jan. 7, a battery on a plane that had recently landed in Boston short-circuited and caught fire. Nine days later, a battery on an All Nippon Airways plane started smoking, forcing an emergency landing in Japan.

Boeing said Saturday’s flight was to assess the in flight performance of the batteries. Data would be used to support continuing investigations of the recent incidents.

The causes of both fires have not yet been determined.

The 787 is the first commercial airliner to rely heavily on lithium-ion batteries, the same kind used in cellphones. Each plane has two of the 63-pound blue power bricks, one near the front to provide power to the cockpit if the engines stop, and one near the back to start up the auxiliary power unit, which is essentially a backup generator.

Boeing has billions of dollars tied up in research on the 787, and billions more dollars in 787s parked in Everett, Wash., and other sites that are waiting to be delivered.

Read more:
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.