One day after celebrating the milestone of finally purchasing a flight to Thailand, I sit down to watch the News only to see the very aircraft model I will be flying on being reported for “Safety Concerns”. Cue the world crashing down around me….
BBC News report: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21054089
17 January 2013 Last updated at 14:48
Dreamliner: Boeing 787 planes grounded on safety fears
There are 50 Boeing 787 Dreamliners at airlines around the worldContinue reading the main storyRelated Stories
All of Boeing’s 50 flagship 787 Dreamliners have been temporarily taken out of service amid safety concerns.
The US and European aviation agencies said planes should be grounded while safety checks are carried out on their lithium ion batteries.
They are worried that the batteries could leak, corroding vital equipment and potentially causing fires.
Boeing said it stood by the integrity of the Dreamliner, which has been in service since October 2011.
Grounding aircraft on this scale over safety concerns is rare. The last time the FAA ordered a general grounding of an aircraft model was in 1979, when McDonnell Douglas DC-10s were grounded following a fatal crash.
Continue reading the main storyWho owns Dreamliners?
- Air India: 6
- All Nippon Airways (Japan): 17
- Ethiopian Airlines: 4
- Japan Airlines: 7
- LAN Airlines (Chile): 3
- Lot Polish Airlines: 2
- Qatar Airways: 5
- United Airlines (US): 6
- Total: 50
Source: Boeing
A string of issues in recent weeks have raised questions about the 787.
Dreamliners have suffered incidents including fuel leaks, a cracked cockpit window, brake problems and an electrical fire. However, it is the battery problems that have caused the most concern.
On Wednesday, an All Nippon Airways (ANA) flight made an emergency landing because of a battery fault and fire smoke in one of the electrical compartments.
ANA said the battery in the forward cargo hold was the same type as the one involved in a fire on a Japan Airlines Dreamliner at a US airport last week.
Safety inspectors are looking at a battery taken from an ANA Dreamliner earlier this week
Airlines complying
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said that airlines must demonstrate battery safety before flights can resume.
The authority added that it had alerted the international aviation community of its airworthiness directive, so that other authorities could take parallel action to cover the fleets operating in their countries.
The European Aviation Safety Agency endorsed the directive early on Thursday.
All eight airlines currently flying Boeing 787s have grounded the planes.
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All Nippon Airways and Japan Airways have grounded their combined fleet of 24 787s
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United Airlines, the only US airline currently operating Dreamliners, said it would immediately comply with the FAA’s directive and would begin re-accommodating customers on alternative aircraft
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Chile’s LAN announced it would suspend its three Dreamliners from service in co-ordination with the Chilean Aeronautical Authority
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Indian aviation regulators ordered Air India to stop operating its 787s
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Poland’s Lot Airlines, the only European airline currently flying 787s, was due to launch its 787 transatlantic service this week, but cancelled a return flight from Chicago to Warsaw on Wednesday
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Qatar Airways, which currently operates five Dreamliners, said it had grounded the planes and was “actively working with Boeing and the regulators to restore full customer confidence in the 787”
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Ethiopian Airlines said it was taking its 787s out of service as a precautionary measure
Things I'm forced to tell myself:
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None of these faults resulted in a crash or fatalities -
All flights/emergency landings were completed professionally and safety, testament to the capabilities of the pilots -
My airline has grounded the offending plane model -
Everyone is working overtime to avoid losing money! - Did I mention I am going to Thailand 🙂
The awkward turtle 