Fix is in; Dreamliners fly with new batteries
May 29, 2013, 10:14 AM | Updated: 11:15 am
The Boeing 787 battery fixes, required to allow the Dreamliner to fly again, are done. (Boeing Company)
(Boeing Company)
The Boeing 787 battery fixes, required to allow the Dreamliner to fly again, are done.
Boeing Vice President for Marketing Randy Tinseth, wrote that Boeing teams, that fanned out across the globe, have finished installing new battery systems in all 50 of the delivered airplanes that needed a retrofit.
Tinseth reported in his blog that six of eight Dreamliner customers have resumed passenger service and the others will follow in a few days. He thanked the airlines for their “patience, partnership and support.”
The 787 was grounded in January after smoldering battery fires in two Japan Airlines jets. One jet had to make an emergency landing. It’s still not clear what caused the overheating in the lithium-ion battery systems.
U.S. Aviation authorities lifted the order to ground the Dreamliner in April. Boeing resumed deliveries earlier in May.
The first 787 customer to resume flights was Ethiopian Airlines. United Airlines is the only U.S. customer that flies the 787 and it resumed service May 20 on some domestic flights.
