787 Dreamliner On Fire Again

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Posted by Soulskill on Friday July 12, 2013 @05:43AM from the hot-topic dept.

Antipater writes "It looks like there's more trouble afoot for Boeing's 787 Dreamliner: London's Heathrow Airport was shut down for over an hour as fire crews attended to a 'suspected fire' on a Dreamliner owned by Ethiopia Airlines. 'Aerial pictures of the scene on the U.K.'s Sky News showed the new plane — which was not carrying passengers at the time — had been sprayed by foam, but there were no signs of fire. The aircraft was not blocking either runway, but with all the airport's fire crews tackling the Boeing 787 incident, authorities were forced to suspend departures and arrivals because of safety rules.'"

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Airbus CEO was on hand for a comment by Qzukk · 2013-07-12 05:44 · Score: 5, Funny

"Well, I was pretty sure I smelled smoke!"

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If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
1. Re:Airbus CEO was on hand for a comment by sabri · 2013-07-12 06:14 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  "Well, I was pretty sure I smelled smoke!"
  You may have smelled smoke, but the headline is not necessarily true.
  
  The Li-Ion batteries that have caused the Dreamliner so much trouble are in the lower front part of the plane, below the front doors.
  
  The news pictures show a problem on the upper side near the tail section. If there was a fire, it could have been anything, an isolated incident not connected to the battery issue.
  
  --
  I'm not a complete idiot... Some parts are missing.
2. Re:Airbus CEO was on hand for a comment by JavaBear · 2013-07-12 06:36 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Actually, they are ALSO in the tail.
3. Re:Airbus CEO was on hand for a comment by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-12 06:41 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  http://media.mcclatchydc.com/smedia/2013/01/17/00/23/XsZ5c.La.91.jpg
4. Re:Airbus CEO was on hand for a comment by K.+S.+Kyosuke · 2013-07-12 07:15 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  The news pictures show a problem on the upper side near the tail section. If there was a fire, it could have been anything, an isolated incident not connected to the battery issue.
  This means that the Boeing people not only didn't fix the bad batteries, but they also didn't read the airplane assembly instructions and installed the batteries in the wrong place.
  
  --
  Ezekiel 23:20
One system to rule them all... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-12 05:46 · Score: 5, Interesting

Sad how one badly designed subsystem can take down an entire product.
1. Re:One system to rule them all... by h4rr4r · 2013-07-12 06:14 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  I think he means the airport.
  If a single fire means they can't do landings and takeoffs that seems like a poor design. It sounds like an easy thing for trouble makers to exploit
2. Re:One system to rule them all... by h4rr4r · 2013-07-12 06:24 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  I merely meant that one worker with a smoke bomb now knows he can shut down LHR whenever he thinks it would benefit him or those he allies himself with.
3. Re:One system to rule them all... by sjames · 2013-07-12 06:26 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  Actually it's a good design. They could have remained open and at full capacity during this incident BUT since the fire crews and equipment were busy, their policy is to shut down to avoid the risk of a second incident and no way to respond to it.
  Since fires and other rescue situations aren't terribly common, the fire crew is just standing by most of the time. Having 1 crew standing by most of the time and another nearly all of the time wouldn't be very practical.
4. Re:One system to rule them all... by joe_frisch · 2013-07-12 07:24 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Yes, it is surprisingly easy to shut down a major airport. They will probably catch you, but it would be an interesting form of non-violent terrorism.
  It is really lucky that terrorist organizations aren't very clever.
  Dear NSA,
  despite the use of the word "terrorism", I have no intention of violating US laws in order to influence US politics. I'm just using what little remains of my first amendment rights to make a political comment on US policies on terrorism.
Whistleblower vindicated again by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-12 05:59 · Score: 5, Interesting

Whistleblower Michael Leon warned of this in 2006:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100406310
And for that he was terminated and his career ruined. Too bad management never wants to listen.
1. Re:Whistleblower vindicated again by istartedi · 2013-07-12 06:30 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  I have a fantastic plan to sell little electronic fingers that you put in your ears. They have speakers in them and play, "La-la-la-la-la...". What? Not a sound business model? I can't hear you.
  
  --
  For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
2. Re:Whistleblower vindicated again by Hognoxious · 2013-07-12 06:45 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Not a sound business model?
  I see - metaphorically - what you did there.
  
  --
  Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
there were no signs of fire ... wrong by BemoanAndMoan · 2013-07-12 06:00 · Score: 5, Informative

Sky News showed the new plane — which was not carrying passengers at the time — had been sprayed by foam, but there were no signs of fire.
But there is! Scorch marks on the roof in front of the tail section.
Check it here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23295115 [bbc video feed]
Re:Obviously caused by Ethiopian cultural attitude by ShanghaiBill · 2013-07-12 06:05 · Score: 5, Informative

towards fire. Don't put that out! It contains the soul of the fire god. Our tribal elders forbid it.
Ethiopia has been a Christian nation since the 1st century A.D. That was several centuries before Europeans stopped worshiping their "fire gods", like Vulcan, Surtr, and Thor.
Re:Obviously caused by Ethiopian cultural attitude by PRMan · 2013-07-12 06:19 · Score: 5, Informative

They trace their Christian heritage to the Ethopian that rode in his chariot while Philip in the Bible: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%208:26-40

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Peter predicted that you would "deliberately forget" creation 2000 years ago...
Re:Ethiopia Airlines by xaxa · 2013-07-12 06:26 · Score: 5, Insightful

Odds that they didn't install the battery fix?
Nil? Would they be allowed to fly within the EU if they hadn't?
Embraer is smaller by FatLittleMonkey · 2013-07-12 06:48 · Score: 4, Informative

The smallest 787 configuration carries 210 passengers. The largest stretched Embraer carries just 120. Different league entirely. Embraer is competing with the 717/A318 and similar small commuter jets, not the 787/A380 and similar wide bodied jumbos.

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Science is all about firing a drunk pig out of a cannon just to see what happens.