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The resumption of flights after a three-month grounding indicates the confidence the airline industry has placed in Boeing, the
world’s largest civil and military aircraft maker.
In New Delhi, sources told India
Strategic that a Boeing team was already in Mumbai at Air India hangars to modify the six 787s
and that the airline would resume flights with the aircraft around May 15, but on domestic routes initially. It takes five to
seven working days to modify or replace the battery units in one aircraft, and Boeing has already brought in the required kits.
There would be trial flights by Boeing and Air India engineers before the aircraft are put into operation.
Air India, which had ordered 27 of these new generation aircraft, is also awaiting deliveries of the remaining aircraft although
some issues on the compensation for delayed deliveries and then the grounding of the aircraft remain.
Boeing has delivered some 50 Boeing 787s worldwide to various customers.
All were ordered off air in January by the US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) the world over, including in India, after some
aircraft of the Japanese All Nippon Airways (ANA) had smoke from the aircraft’s lithium ion batteries, manufactured by Japan’s
GS Yuasa.
The same company has modified the batteries and their chargers in cooperation with Boeing engineers to prevent their overheating.
FAA has already cleared it for commercial flights again.
The exact cause of the overheating problem has not yet been determined but charging circuits have been modified to soften the
flow of current. The batteries have also been placed in stronger, modified casings.
In the first ANA flight after the modifications, Boeing officials accompanied airline managers to inspire their own and passenger
confidence.
The US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA), which had grounded the aircraft in January, has already cleared it for commercial flights
again.
After the clearance, Boeing Chairman, President and CEO Jim McNerney said in a statement April 19: “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. The promise of the 787 and the benefits it provides to airlines and their passengers remain fully
intact as we take this important step forward with our customers and program partners.”
“The FAA set a high bar for our team and our solution,” said McNerney, adding “We appreciate the diligence, expertise and
professionalism of the FAA’s technical team and the leadership of FAA Administrator Michael Huerta and Secretary of Transportation
Ray LaHood throughout this process. Our shared commitment with global regulators and our customers to safe, efficient and reliable
airplanes has helped make air travel the safest form of transportation in the world today.”
Boeing, in collaboration with its supplier partners and in support of the investigations of the National Transportation Safety
Board and the Japan Transport Safety Board, conducted extensive engineering analysis and testing to develop a thorough understanding
of the factors that could have caused the 787’s batteries to fail and overheat in two incidents last January. The team spent more than
100,000 hours developing test plans, building test rigs, conducting tests and analysing the results to ensure the proposed solutions
met all requirements.
“Our team has worked tirelessly to develop a comprehensive solution that fully satisfies the FAA and its global counterparts, our
customers and our own high standards for safety and reliability,” said Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Ray Conner.
“Through the skill and dedication of the Boeing team and our partners, we achieved that objective and made a great airplane even better.”
The Boeing 787 is much lighter than the traditionally engineered ones as it uses chunks of titanium in place of aluminum in body
and lithium ion batteries instead of the heavy lead/alkaline batteries. The 787 is 20 percent more fuel efficient than comparable
aluminum-body aircraft.
Some of the 787s structural and operating technologies have been derived from military jets and spacecraft.Lithium ion batteries
are common in consumer electronics, including the cell phones as they provide much more staying power despite being light.
The 787 is much more passenger friendly in terms of environment with better humidity and air control, leading to reduced travel fatigue.
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