Japan grounds 787 fleet over safety

Jan 16 2013

Japan's airlines have grounded their Boeing 787 planes for safety checks, in the latest blow for the new passenger jet.

The move came hours after one of the 787s operated by All Nippon Airways made an emergency landing in western Japan after a cockpit message showed battery problems - the latest in a series of failings including a battery fire and fuel leaks. No-one has been seriously injured.

The transport ministry said it received notices from ANA, which operates 17 of the Dreamliner jets, and Japan Airlines which has seven, that all their 787 aircraft would not be flying.

The grounding was being done voluntarily by the airlines, but the ministry said it was categorising the latest problem as a "serious incident" that could have led to an accident. ANA spokesman Takuya Taniguchi said the flight to Tokyo from Ube in western Japan landed at Takamatsu airport and details of the problem were still being checked.

"Boeing is aware of the diversion of a 787 operated by ANA to Takamatsu in western Japan. We will be working with our customer and the appropriate regulatory agencies," Boeing spokesman Marc Birtel said.

ANA's 787s have encountered several problems in the past two weeks, though no injuries have been reported. Mr Taniguchi said the airline was not yet prepared to comment on the general problems that have surfaced in the 787.

The US government is conducting a review to find out what caused a fire, a fuel leak and other worrisome incidents with Boeing's newest and most technologically-advanced airliner, though it has reassured the public it is safe to fly.

Japanese airlines have been the first to roll out the 787. Boeing has said that various technical problems are to be expected in the early days of any aircraft model.

A fire started on January 7 in the battery pack of an auxiliary power unit of a Japan Airlines 787 empty of passengers as the plane sat on the tarmac at Boston's Logan International Airport. It took firefighters 40 minutes to put out the blaze. Later last week, a fuel leak delayed a flight from Boston to Tokyo of another Japan Airlines 787.

ANA cancelled a domestic flight to Tokyo on January 9 after a computer wrongly indicated there was a problem with the Boeing 787's brakes. Two days later, the carrier reported two new cases of problems with the aircraft, a minor fuel leak and a cracked windscreen in a 787 cockpit.