The FAA Will Let Boeing's 787 Dreamliner Fly Again

derekmead writes "Having completed intense review of the aircraft's flight systems and functionality, component reliability, two weeks ago Boeing completed testing on the last item on its list, the plane's battery housing. The FAA on Friday approved the new system. That means the 787, which Boeing has continued to build while new battery solutions were developed, will now be able to resume regular flights as soon as workers are able to carry out an overhaul of the planes that need the upgrade. 'FAA approval clears the way for us and the airlines to begin the process of returning the 787 to flight with continued confidence in the safety and reliability of this game-changing new airplane,' Jim McNerney, CEO of Boeing, said in a news release announcing the approval."

Comments

Re:it just can't fly as far

[AliasMarlowe]

the 787 can fly again, but it won't be allowed to fly the major international routes. only the ones where the flight path is always within an hour of a major airport

TFA and the press release did not mention any ETOPS restriction, and the plane was previously certified for 180 minutes ETOPS (Boeing planned on increasing it further). Do you have a source for this?

Re:it just can't fly as far

[Anonymous Coward]

This is actually a very good point. What the above poster is referring to is the ETOPS rating (which is the time from the nearest airport assuming that an engine fails). The 787 was designed to maximize its ETOPS rating, with an attempt to get it up to 330 minutes. Given its 14,000 to - 15,000 km range, a 330 minutes ETOPS would allow it to fly directly to almost any destination (including over the poles). Anything that reduces the ETOPS rating will make the aircraft more inefficient for long distance flights.

In any case, I'd assume that the fixed 787 will have at least a 180 minutes ETOPS rating which shouldn't cause too much pain (which is what it had before the battery problem occurred). If the FAA is being harsh, they may limit it to 120 minutes, which would particularly affect Pacific routes.

root cause hasn't been found

[Anonymous Coward]

It's perhaps worth noting that the root cause of the two battery failures hasn't been found. So the idea is not to solve it, but to make it safe (safer) when it happens again.

Re:root cause hasn't been found

[RandomFactor]

"Before the planes can fly, they must be fitted with a "containment and venting" system for both lithium-ion batteries on the 787, the FAA said. That includes a stainless-steel enclosure to prevent heat, fumes or fire from spreading if a battery overheats in flight. Batteries and battery chargers must also be replaced with different components, the FAA said"

I suspect replacing the batteries and chargers is the intended solution, with the enclosure and venting system being a 'just in case it happens again anyway...' bit of layered prevention.

Re:root cause hasn't been found

[fnj]

Let's have a dose of reality here. The root cause is PRESUMED to have been manufacturing defects. Nobody at Boeing or the FAA seems to have genuinely evaluated the likelihood that the lithium ion technology has BUILT-IN liability in the basic concept.

The only real question here is whether the protective redesign is adequate to contain the inevitable battery failures which will come, without setting the plane on fire or releasing poisonous fumes into the cabin.

Re:root cause hasn't been found

[Richard_at_work]

They seem to be fine with engine blade off events, engine fires and other engine related issues, so LNG as they are all properly contained - so no particular reason they wouldn't be fine with other components having the same restrictions.

Re:root cause hasn't been found

[PPH]

No. This battery (the GS Yuasa cells) don't suffer from these sorts of failures in other applications. They are not a new product, built only for Boeing. So, unless we are to believe that GS Yuasa has been producing the units shipped to Thales from a special, substandard manufacturing line, this is not the cause.

The fireproof battery box solution solves one of two problems: It prevents an 'eventful' battery failure from propagating to other aircraft systems and components. It does not demonstrate the battery system reliability that Boeing had initially assumed in their certification analysis. If the demonstrated reliability to date is not sufficient for ETOPS operation, Boeing still has some homework to do. Failing to understand the nature of the faults means that Boeing cannot, with any certainty, claim to have reset the reliability numbers back to the original ones provided by certification analysis.

Re:it just can't fly as far

[Richard_at_work]

Nope, it's been explicitly confirmed that the 787 has retained its ETOPs 180 certification.

Re:it just can't fly as far

[ilguido]

It was designed for a ETOPS 330.

Plain truth

[allypally]

Oh, when will the world learn that battery state of the art is simply inadequate for mobile devices such as iPhones and Dreamliners?

Stick to tethered devices that draw mains power through cords - such as xboxes and trains - and all will run much more smoothly.

Re:it just can't fly as far

[Richard_at_work]

It was certainly designed for ETOPS 330, but it hadnt yet achieved certification for it - no aircraft infact has.

Re:it just can't fly as far

[Richard_at_work]

Type design approval is NOT certification - both the type and the operator needs to achieve certification to fly ETOPS 330. The 777 still has to achieve type certification for 330.

Re:it just can't fly as far

[Richard_at_work]

See my reply to the other guy - the maximum the 777 has achieved in ETOPS *certification* to date is 207.