It’s time for another edition of 787 watch, with late breaking news that Boeing is proposing a fix to the 787 issues.
The FAA has released a statement
Deputy Transportation Secretary John Porcari, FAA Administrator Michael P. Huerta and other FAA officials met with senior executives from The Boeing Company today to discuss the status of ongoing work to address 787 battery issues. The FAA is reviewing a Boeing proposal and will analyze it closely. The safety of the flying public is our top priority and we won’t allow the 787 to return to commercial service until we’re confident that any proposed solution has addressed the battery failure risks.
http://www.faa.gov/news/press_releases/news_story.cfm?newsId=14333
Whilst this is a simple statement, there appears to be no details regarding what the fix will entail.
Reuters reported that Boeing has proposed sticking with lithium ion batteries, with alternations to the design of the housing including ceramic insulation between the cells to prevent thermal runaway and a stronger, larger stainless steel box with a venting tube to contain a fire and expel fumes outside the aircraft should a battery catch fire again.
It is still unclear if the 787 fleet will be allowed to return to flight until the root causes of the JAL 787 fire and ANA 787 incident are fully identified even with this fix in place. And as such, whilst the batteries have been identified, the actual cause for the batteries to fail have yet to properly explained.
Currently, groundings are now extending into June, with United today grounding its 787 fleet until at least the 5th June.
Is the fix enough? Or is it time for Boeing to revisit NiCad technology? Only more testing, analysis, research and more flying will answer that question.
But in commercial terms, the 787 fleet remains grounded until further notice.
would have been less of a finical loss to stick with proven wet cell ni-cad tek.