JAL 787 fire unrelated to previous problems – Boeing
Boeing does not believe the electrical fire that broke out aboard Japan Airlines’ Boeing 787 Dreamliner on Monday is related to earlier electrical problems suffered by United Airlines and Qatar Airways.
In a statement released today (9 January 2013), Boeing said that while it was “too premature to discuss details”, the incident appeared unconnected to last month’s problems, which resulted in the temporary grounding of Dreamliners.
“Nothing that we’ve seen in this case indicates a relationship to any previous 787 power system events, which involved power panel faults elsewhere in the aft electrical equipment bay,” Boeing said.
The fire onboard JAL’s Dreamliner started when a battery used for the aircraft’s auxiliary power unit (APU) overheated. Last month, both Qatar Airways and United Airlines were forced to ground their Dreamliners due to faults with power generators.
At the time, Qatar Airways’ CEO, Akbar Al Baker, said he was concerned the problem may be prevalent in more of the US-made jets.
“Two aircraft having the same major problem so quickly is a cause of concern,” Al Baker was reported saying.