Japan Airlines reports further Dreamliner problems
Japan Airlines has reported battery problems in a Boeing Dreamliner currently inhabiting Narita Airport in Tokyo.
Less than a year after aircraft manufacturer Boeing grounded the 787 Dreamliner fleet due to battery problems, aircraft fires, emergency landings and safety concerns, Japan Airlines (JAL) discovered white smoke close to the battery holder in one of its craft.
A mechanic discovered the smoke on Tuesday while cockpit checks were being performed. While the smoke vanished quickly, checks found that a relief port had vented on one of the eight lithium-ion cells contained in each battery -- spraying liquid inside the container.
After being grounded by the FCC last year, the Dreamliner was only allowed to take to the sky again after Boeing rapidly altered the design of the battery and its casing. The report of additional problems is likely to cause another headache for the plane model engineers.
JAL and Boeing say they are looking into the incident, and other airlines using the Dreamliner have been notified of the potential problem.
Speaking at a press conference last year, Boeing Commercial Airplanes Marketing Vice President Randy Tinseth said:
"Every plane that we bring to the market clearly or oftentimes has issues as we go through the maturation process. The 787 has been no exception to that. Clearly we've had some challenges on 787 reliability and we’re focused on making that reliability better."
Via: MarketWatch
Image credit: Flickr
This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com