Ethiopian Airlines on
Saturday became the world's first carrier to resume flying Boeing Co.'s 787
Dreamliner passenger jets, landing the first commercial flight since the global
fleet was grounded three months ago following incidents of overheating in the batteries
providing auxiliary power.
The flight from Addis
Ababa to Nairobi was the first since regulators grounded all Dreamliners on
Jan. 16 after two lithium-ion battery meltdowns that occurred on two jets with
other airlines within two weeks that month.
U.S. regulators
approved a new battery design last week, clearing the way for installation and
a resumption of Dreamliner flights by airlines around the world.
The battery faults
raised fears of a possible mid-air fire, drawing worldwide attention to Boeing
and denting the reputation of its flagship plane.
"I wasn't aware
that I was going to be on the 787 Dreamliner until on my way to the airport. It
was a good service and the flight was pleasant," said Senait Mekonnen, an
Ethiopian restaurateur, moments after the plane landed.
The fully booked flight
arrived at Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport just after 9.30 GMT,
with passengers giving the crew a round of applause upon landing.
The grounding of the
Dreamliner fleet has cost Boeing an estimated $600 million, halted deliveries
of the aircraft and forced some airlines to lease alternative planes.
The Dreamliner cost an
estimated $20 billion to develop and represents a quantum leap forward in
design, offering a 20 percent reduction in fuel burn and added cabin comforts
such as higher humidity, larger windows and modern styling.
But by sparking fears
of a dangerous mid-air fire, the battery problems drew worldwide attention to
both aircraft safety and the technology behind lithium-ion batteries, which are
widely used in laptops, mobile phones, electric cars and other products.
The scrutiny turned
from what are often called normal "teething pains" for a new plane
into a serious crisis for Boeing. As the plane goes back into service, what
caused the fire is still unknown.
The battery that
overheated on a parked Japan Airlines 787 in Boston caught fire and burned for
more than hour before firefighters put it out. The plane was on the ground and
empty. The second incident, which has not officially been termed a fire,
occurred during a flight in Japan.
An odor of smoke in the
cabin and warnings in the cockpit prompted the All Nippon Airways pilots to
make an emergency landing and evacuate the aircraft. Boeing said both incidents
showed its safeguards had worked.
Cause not
yet found
After the second
incident, airlines were swiftly barred from flying the 250-seat aircraft, which
carries a list price of $207 million. The U.S. National Transportation Safety
Board (NTSB) launched a full-scale investigation to find the root cause of the
Boston fire and examine the process by which the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) approved Boeing's design.
The NTSB has not yet
found the cause, and after hearings last week the investigation continues.
The last time an
airliner fleet was grounded was more than ageneration ago, when the U.S.
Federal Aviation Administration banned the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 jet in 1979
after a crash in Chicago killed 273 people.
Boeing spent thousands
of hours and millions of dollars redesigning the battery system, drawing on its
vast staff of engineers and experts in everything from fighter planes to
rockets and satellites.
The changes include a
revamped battery less prone to heat build-up, a redesigned charger and a
stainless-steel enclosure capable of withstanding an explosion and equipped
with a metal exhaust tube to vent fumes and gases outside the jet, if the
battery overheats.
International airlines
have been slowly putting the Dreamliner back into their schedules. United
Airlines, the only U.S. carrier with the jet, said it will begin commercial
flights on May 31. All Nippon Airways plans to conduct its first test flight of
the revamped 787 on Sunday but has yet to decide when to resume passenger
flights.
Ethiopian Airlines
previously said its fleet did not suffer any of the technical glitches
experienced by other Dreamliner jets, though it withdrew the planes from
service to undergo the changes required by the FAA.
Sources :
http://www.voanews.com/content/boeing-dreamliner-flights-resume/1649987.html
No comments:
Post a Comment