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Report: Boeing near identifying 787 ‘Dreamliner’ battery fix
Airplane manufacturer Boeing is reportedly close to reporting a fix for its 787 “Dreamliner” battery issues to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
The company is scheduled to present the solution to FAA officials during a meeting scheduled for Friday, according to a report from Bloomberg News.
The solution involves additional protections to prevent smoke or fire as a result of failures of the 787 lithium ion batteries, which is what led to the plane being grounded by the FAA, according to the report.
“We have been in close communication with the regulatory and investigative authorities since the 787 issue arose,” a Boeing spokesman said. “We do not comment publicly on our conversations with them.”
The FAA also declined to comment Wednesday about the reported meeting with Boeing officials.
Boeing said Wednesday that it has “teams of hundreds of engineering and technical experts who are working around the clock with the sole focus of resolving the issue and returning the 787 fleet to flight status.
“Everyone is working to get to the answer as quickly as possible and good progress is being made,” Boeing said.
The agency ordered U.S. airlines to stop flying the 787 in January after a series of incidents involving battery defects sparked at least one onboard electrical fire.
Other worldwide aviation agencies quickly followed suit, leading to a worldwide shutdown of the airplane.
The
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which is conducting its
own 787 investigation, has attributed the battery fires to
short-circuiting and accelerated temperature increases known as "thermal runaway."
The NTSB has additionally questioned the FAA's original certification of the Dreamliner airplane.
Boeing
has argued that the vet of the airplane was "rigorous," and the company
has maintained the 787 will be ultimately be ruled safe to fly.
The company has completed several test flights of the 787 after doing so was approved by the FAA.
