Recommendation on Boeing 787s expected next week

By JOAN LOWY

National Feb. 28, 2013 - 05:31AM JST ( 4 )

The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.

Order by Time Order by Popularity

4 Comments

0

KnowBetterFeb. 28, 2013 - 10:27PM JST

But the root cause of the initial short-circuiting hasn't yet been identified. That places the FAA in the awkward position of being asked to approve a fix for a problem with its origins still unknown.

Yea, that isn't scary at all...

I saw one of United's 787s grounded at Narita and a whole slew of JAL's and ANA's parked up in Narita, Haneda and Itami. Quite depressing to see them all like that in the rainy and gloomy weather. Those 787s sure were a sad sight.
0

KnowBetterFeb. 28, 2013 - 10:28PM JST

The agency has been in this situation before. After TWA Flight 800 exploded off the coast of Long Island, New York, in 1996 killing all 230 people aboard, investigators ultimately pinned the cause on flammable vapors in one of the Boeing 747's fuel tanks. But they were never able to conclusively identify the source of the spark that ignited vapors. Nevetheless, FAA engineers were ultimately able to come up with new requirements for fuel tanks to prevent an explosion.

Sure, at the time (1996), in 26+ years of the 747 being in the air it had never happened before and nearly 17 years later still never happened again. The powers that be can spin whatever story they think the masses will buy and if it all makes us sleep better at night then we all move on. I see the same story unfolding yet again but for different reasons.
0

YuriOtaniMar. 01, 2013 - 02:51AM JST

KnowBetter all it takes is once! Not sure why Boeing is not coming up with a plan to use different batteries. It should not be that much of a difference in weight. The airlines need to sue Boeing now for criminal STUPID!
0

FadamorMar. 01, 2013 - 04:14AM JST

KnowBetter all it takes is once! Not sure why Boeing is not coming up with a plan to use different batteries. It should not be that much of a difference in weight. The airlines need to sue Boeing now for criminal STUPID!

Using different batteries would require completely re-designing the electrical system. Other batteries are heavier per-cell, require a completely different recharging scheme, and for other batteries to provide the same Ampere/Hours of electricity, MORE batteries would be needed. So the weight of the batteries would cause a noticeable increase in weight. This would affect the aircraft's center of gravity calculations and reduce payload capacity. You'd almost be better-off restarting the aircraft design from scratch if you're going to do all that.