Post date: Jan 17, 2013 12:59:28 PM
Last Boeing 787 Dreamliner from U.S. lands in Tokyo after safety authorities from both countries ground the plane over safety concerns.
NARITA AIRPORT, CHIBA PREFECTURE, JAPAN (JANUARY 17, 2013) (REUTERS) - The last flight using a Boeing 787 from the United States to Japan landed on Thursday (January 17) before both the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Japanese officials temporarily grounded Boeing's newest commercial airliner
Airlines have been left scrambling to rearrange flights as Europe, Japan and India joined the United States in grounding Boeing Co's 787 Dreamliner passenger jets while battery-related problems are investigated.The lightweight, mainly carbon-composite plane has been plagued by recent mishaps - including an emergency landing of an All Nippon Airways domestic flight on Wednesday after warning lights indicated a battery problem - raising concerns over its use of lithium-ion batteries.
Passengers on the United Airlines flight using a 787 from Los Angeles, who took off after the FAA grounded the plane and landed after Japan took similar action dismissed many of the fears however.
"All of the issues seem kind of small, and happened of the ground. Also, I'm assuming they wouldn't let us fly if it wasn't safe. But I had no idea we would be the last one out before they grounded all the planes," said 32-year-old Chris Tsang.
Others were more concerned with making it to their final destination.
"I don't really know if the 787 is good or bad, so I don't really think it's a problem," said 41-year-old Keiichi Ikeo after getting off the flight.
Boeing has sold around 850 of the new planes, with 50 delivered to date. Around half of those have been in operation in Japan, but airlines in India, South America, Poland,Qatar and Ethiopia, as well as United Airlines in the United States, are also flying the aircraft, which has a list price of 207 million U.S. dollars.
Regulators in Japan and India said it was unclear when the Dreamliner could be back in action. A spokesman for the European Aviation Safety Agency said the region would follow the FAA's grounding order.
Poland's state-controlled LOT Airlines is the sole European airline currently operating the 787.
"I had no idea there were any problems with the flight, I'm really glad that we made it, it feels really good to be here in Tokyo, and I'm really grateful that we made it on the last flight out so we didn't have to cancel our plans."
Keeping the 787s on the ground could cost ANA alone more than 1.1 million U.S. dollars a day, Mizuho Securities calculated, noting the Dreamliner was key to the airline's growth strategy.
Japan's Transport Safety Board (JTSB) said checks on the ANA flight that made the emergency landing on Wednesday (January 16) showed a bulge in the metal box that cases the main battery. The electric equipment bay, where the battery is located, had a strong smell of smoke and soot was found on the box and on two exterior valves used to regulate temperature in the plane.
"I think the biggest problem this time is the battery, the main battery. As the main battery is like the heart of a human being, I think that this is most urgent thing to deal with and fix," Aviation columnist and former Japan Airline (JAL) Captain Hiroyuki Kobayashi said.
Representatives from the FAA, Boeing and the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board were due in Japan on Friday (January 18) to inspect the Dreamliner that had the apparent battery fire.
"If it's just a problem with the battery, then I don't think it will take that long to fix or cost that much. If it is indeed a problem not just with the battery with also with the related systems then it will indeed take a longer time to fix and of course costs will go up as well," Kobayashi added.
The use of new battery technology is among the cost-saving features of the 787, which Boeing says burns 20 percent less fuel than rival jetliners using older technology.