Ethiopian 787 Incident – Not Battery Related from the looks of it.

According to a couple of reports (BBC, FlightGlobal), it looks like the fire on the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 787 is not linked to the onboard Lithium Ion Batteries according to the UK Air Accidents Investigation Board

As we’re all aware, an on-board incident on the parked airplane – ET-AOP –  which required 13 fire tenders at one point assisting in dampening down the plane with water and foam.  The plane was parked away from the terminal during a period where it was resting between flights with no passengers aboard.

The incident occurred at 16:50BST – 12th July 2013, requiring the airport to be closed as all tenders were in attendance.

The incident caused extensive heat damage, with some of the carbon fibre damaged and the  ribbing exposed on the top of the aircraft, near the tail  area

The AAIB so far have not called the incident a fire (however fire engines went to attend), but that the aircraft “suffered an event”.

The heat damage caused by the incident away from the area where the aircraft main and APU (Auxiliary Power Unit) batteries are located, and, at this stage, there is no evidence of a direct causal relationship between the incident and batteries.

The source of the incident has yet to be identified.

Since the incident the aircraft has been moved to a hanger, where the investigation is ongoing. The area where incident  fire occurred is described as “complex” by the AAIB, with multiple systems there.

The initial investigation will probably take several days to conclude.

Whilst there may be some breathing a sigh of relief that the batteries are not currently linked into this incident, this did no favours to Boeing’s stock price and the reputation of the 787 Dreamliner which has had more than its fair share of problems.  As to the damage on the aircraft, questions will be asked how the carbon fibre at the rear of it failed and if this aircraft is even repairable.

And those will be tough questions that answers need to be found for.