Fresh problems for Boeing Dreamliners
Japan Airlines (JAL) has experienced a series of problems with its new Boeing 787 Dreamliners this week, with an electrical fire and a fuel leak causing concerns for the airline, and for Boeing.
On Monday, a small fire broke out onboard the B787 shortly after it landed at Boston’s Logan International Airport, following a flight from Tokyo. And yesterday, JAL confirmed that a suspected fuel leak forced it to abort the take-off of its Dreamliner service from Boston to Tokyo. The two incidents involved two separate aircraft.
In a statement released following the fire, JAL confirmed that smoke was detected in the aft section of the cabin, and that emergency services had to be called in to extinguish the fire. All 172 passengers onboard the flight had already disembarked and there were no casualties.
According to JAL, the source of the fire was “the battery used for the auxiliary power unit (APU) which was situated in an electrical room at the aft section of the aircraft”.
In the second incident, a patch of fuel was reportedly found under the JAL Dreamliner after it left its gate to prepare for take-off. The aircraft was forced to return to the terminal and all passengers disembarked safely.
Speaking to Travel Daily this morning, JAL spokesperson Sze-Hunn Yap confirmed the second incident, and said it was “under investigation”.
Last July, ANA grounded part of its Dreamliner fleet due to problems with their Rolls-Royce engines, while both United Airlines and Qatar Airways have both detected problems with the electrics of their aircraft. The United incident forced the airline to make an emergency landing.
The B787 Dreamliner entered commercial service in October 2011, following several years of delays.