No one wants to be on a plane with batteries that are liable to explode, and since Boeing grounded its 787 Dreamliners after such an incident, no one has had to be. Except for the test crew that took one into the yesterday. But don’t worry, it all turned out just fine.
The flight was intended to get some more information about those pesky sometimes-bursting-into-flames lithium-ion batteries, and took off from Boeing Field in Seattle. The battery lasted two hours and 19 minutes, and all in all, “The crew reports that the flight was uneventful,” as Boeing put it in a statement. The FAA cleared such test flights on Thursday, and although there are none planned for today, you can bet there’ll be some more in the coming days.
Boeing has said the battery information its gathered on the flight is part of its flaming-battery investigation, but declined to share anything more than that. And although a uneventful flight is definitely good for those on it, who knows how much light that could actually shed on what is wrong.
Boeing is currently working on an intermediate battery redesign that could mitigate issues in the near future, so hopefully they’re getting the info they need to pull it off. It’s a bummer to see all these birds grounded. [Reuters]
Here's a question. If this battery issue is so pervasive did Boeing intentionally release the aircraft for commercial use too early?
Of course they didn't. They 787 would've undergone hundreds - if not thousands - of test flight hours before being "released". Had the possibility of such a failure become apparent in that time, they certainly would've put everything on hold while they got to the bottom of what exactly was going wrong. The idea that Boeing knowingly rushed their aircraft to market before this fault became apparent to the aviation authorities is simply ludicrous.
Ok, I want to see you fly in one then.
Last edited February 11, 2013 3:04 pm
Honestly, I'd have no problem in doing so. I'd fly on one tomorrow, if the opportunity presented itself.
Wow! This thing can time travel?
"...took one into the yesterday."
;)
Could just mean that they flew east over the date line (eg. from Australia to USA).
There would need be a minimum amount of flight tests to get FAA certification. The battery issue wasn't one of those major news stories at that time I think. There were some major issues with the engine though. But looks like Rolls Royce have fixed them