AviationFAA certifies Boeing 787 can fly again after fixes to over-heating battery

Boeing 787 outside hangar // Source: iranvij.ir

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has approved Boeing’s proposed improvements to the lithium-ion battery systems on its 787 passenger jets. The jets have been grounded since January and are now ready to return to the skies.

The Los Angeles Times reports that the agency’s push to get the 787 fleet in the air comes just after Boeing passes a certification test flight with a crew of eleven people on board. The test took  under two hours.

The agency said it requires airlines that use the 787 jets to install containment and venting systems for the batteries, and instructed carriers to replace the batteries and the chargers with modified components.

The Boeing 787 is used by eight airlines worldwide, but the only U.S. carrier to use the jet is United Airlines. The FAA has sent inspectors to modification sites, and it will not allow any of the jets to fly until the inspectors approve the work.

“Safety of the traveling public is our No. 1 priority,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement. “These changes to the 787 battery will ensure the safety of the aircraft and its passengers.”

Boeing’s chief project engineer for the 787 program, Mike Sinnett, said in a teleconference that Boeing will send the airlines kits to fix the planes, but it will also send teams around the world assist in the installation.

According to Sinnett, the installation process will take about five days, but he did not say when the jets would return to service.

“The rest is really up to the airlines,” Sinnett told the Times.

“FAA approval clears the way for us and the airlines to begin the process of returning the 787 to flight with continued confidence in the safety and reliability of this game-changing new airplane,” Boeing CEO Jim McNerney said in a statement. “The promise of the 787 and the benefits it provides to airlines and their passengers remain fully intact as we take this important step forward with our customers and program partners.”

Aerospace analysts estimate that putting the jets on the shelf for three months has cost Boeing hundreds of millions of dollars. Despite the setback, the company’s stock has risen 14 percent

The improvement of the battery system includes insulating and spacing out the parts in the battery unit as well as reducing charging levels so the battery cannot be overcharged. The batteries are also enclosed in a stainless steel case so very little oxygen can get to them.

The jets were grounded after a battery fire occurred on 6 January on a 787 operated by Japan Airlines at Boston’s Logan International Airport. A second incident occurred ten days later on a flight in Japan.

The National Transportation Safety Board has been investigating the matter, as have officials from Boeing, the FAA, the Navy, Japan, and France, but none of them has found a cause for the incidents.