JAL grounds Dreamliners

[Rbdport]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21038128

And that is why I'm stuck in Narita, trying to get a new flight home.

[seand442]

Looks like a bad couple of weeks for Boeing. Good luck.

[bayerische]

Darn, didn't see this thread... Now we have two.

ANA has also grounded theirs. So 24 dreamliners sitting on the tarmac.

[77T]

The funny thing to me is how these incidents are grouped among the two operators with the first deliveries. Right about when they should have some maintenance items to complete.

ANA first service October 26, 2011
Japan Airlines first service on May 1, 2012

Newer operators not seeing same issues leads me to think it isn't a design issue as much as a maintenance one. Still critical to fix though...

Ethiopian Airlines first service on August 16, 2012
Air India first service on September 19, 2012
LAN Airlines first service on October 1, 2012
United Airlines first service on November 4, 2012
Qatar Airways first service on November 20, 2012.
LOT Polish Airlines first service on December 14, 2012.

[bayerische]

Originally Posted by 77T

The funny thing to me is how these incidents are grouped among the two operators with the first deliveries. Right about when they should have some maintenance items to complete.

ANA first service October 26, 2011
Japan Airlines first service on May 1, 2012

Newer operators not seeing same issues leads me to think it isn't a design issue as much as a maintenance one. Still critical to fix though...

Ethiopian Airlines first service on August 16, 2012
Air India first service on September 19, 2012
LAN Airlines first service on October 1, 2012
United Airlines first service on November 4, 2012
Qatar Airways first service on November 20, 2012.
LOT Polish Airlines first service on December 14, 2012.

Impossible to say. However both airlines involved have good safety records. Seems isolated to batteries, perhaps production faults in early ones...

[Kingair]

ANA Grounds 787s After Emergency Landing


ANA, the launch customer for the Boeing 787, has grounded its fleet of 17 Dreamliners after an emergency landing and evacuation in Japan on Tuesday. Japan Airlines quickly followed suit with its seven aircraft. The ANA drama was prompted by a battery warning light and what one of the pilots thought was a funny smell. The aircraft left Yamaguchi Airport in western Japan for Haneda, near Tokyo, about 8 a.m. local time, but it was on the ground in Takamatsu 45 minutes later and the 129 passengers and eight crew were hitting the slides. One report said there was smoke in the cockpit and another said a pilot smelled something unusual; ANA was said to be checking whether there was actually any smoke. Nevertheless, the airline promptly grounded the fleet, adding to the considerable pressure already on Boeing to defend the safety of its flagship aircraft.

"We've seen the reports, we're aware of the events and are working with our customer," Boeing spokesman Marc Birtel is reported to have told Reuters. It was the lithium-ion APU battery aboard a Japan Airlines 787 at Boston last week that led to an FAA probe into the airliner and there have been other non-electrical problems reported since. This may be the first time a 787 has been evacuated, however.

HAGOne

[linesiders]

Just about every new airliner has done this (or worse) though the coverage is certainly stronger and more sensationalized these days

[Kingair]

Maybe they released a little bit to early . . .

Fuel leaks . . . window that crack . . .

But the A380 has it's own problems . . . . engines that exploded . . . cracks in the wing roots . . .

When I was a student I worked in Brussels at the National Airport . . and often there was a car or truck that ran into an airplane . . . I just wonder how they are going to fix that with all the composite material they use now in the new airplanes . . .

Speedtape won't do the trick . . .

HAGOne

[Kingair]

Here's a timeline . . . .

http://www.flightglobal.com/features/787-woes/

HAGWe

[bayerische]

There's a pattern allright.