Final test flight for Boeing’s grounded Dreamliner 787
Apr 5, 2013, 10:34 AM | Updated: 1:23 pm
Boeing's 787 Dreamliner took off from Paine Field in Everett for its final test flight since it's been grounded. (Flickr/Boeing Company)
(Flickr/Boeing Company)
Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner has returned to Paine Field in Everett after its final test flight since it’s been grounded. It took off around 11:00 a.m. and landed nearly two hours later.
The test was “to demonstrate that the new system performs as intended during normal and non-normal flight conditions,” Boeing spokesman Marc Birtel said.
The plane has been grounded since mid-January because of smoldering batteries. Boeing has designed what it says is a fix for the problem. Air and ground tests will wrap up with the flight on Friday.
The Federal Aviation Administration and author aviation authorities will still need to approve the fix before the 787 can fly again.
On March 12, the Federal Aviation Administration approved Boeing’s plan to test the redesigned battery system, and Friday’s flight test was the final part of that plan.
The same plane, built for LOT Polish Airlines, flew on Monday in a pre-delivery check flight, where pilots did things like raise and lower the landing gear and ran backup systems.
The FAA will still need to approve the results and certify the battery system before airlines can fly 787s again. Fifty 787s owned by eight airlines have been grounded worldwide. Boeing has said it will install the battery fix on those planes first, and then on the 787s it has continued to build while the planes have been grounded.
The root cause of the battery problems still isn’t known. Boeing executives have said that other airplane problems have been fixed without understanding exactly what caused them. The big question for Boeing in the weeks ahead will be whether the FAA agrees. The FAA has not laid out a timetable for a final decision about the fix.
The National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates aviation incidents but doesn’t have enforcement power, plans a two-day hearing on the 787 incidents beginning April 23.
Boeing Co. shares had declined earlier in the day, but after the test was announced they gained $1.22 to close at $86.17.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
