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Boeing reports safe 787 'Dreamliner' test flight
Boeing is reporting that it has flown its 787 "Dreamliner" airplane without any battery incidents.
Test flights of the 787 were approved last week by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) after the plane was grounded for a month following a battery fire on an airplane that was being operated by Japan Airlines at Boston's Logan International Airport.
Boeing said it flew a 787 for two hours on Saturday with no incidents.
The FAA's decision to take the 787 out of flight in January followed the fire that was sparked by a lithium-ion battery and a separate incident in which smoke was seen in-flight on another airplane that had a similar battery issue.
Other worldwide aviation agencies quickly followed the FAA's lead, resulting in a worldwide grounding of the Dreamliner.
 Image courtesy of Boeing |
Boeing said the crew that was flying the 787 on its test flight "monitored the performance of the main and APU batteries."
"Special equipment on board ZA005, which is currently the only member of the Boeing 787 flight test fleet in service, allowed the crew to observe and record detailed battery performance in normal flight conditions," the company said.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which is conducting a separate review of the 787, is attributing the defects on the 787 batteries to short-circuiting and accelerated temperature increases known as “thermal runaway.”
 Getty Images |
Boeing said the information that was gathered from the 787 test flight will be used to assist the FAA's investigation, which the agency has said will determine when the airplane will be allowed to return to service.
