Dreamliners to start flying again in 'weeks'

Boeing has reported it expects to resume Dreamliner 787 flights in the coming weeks.
All 50 Boeing 787's were grounded on 17th January this year following safety concerns in regard of the problematic lithium-ion batteries. The batteries are being used on a large scale in the dreamliner because of the reliance on electrical systems in the modern aircraft.

At a press conference on Mar 15th in Tokyo, Japan the improvements in the Dreamliner batteries were presented. Ray Conner, Preident and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes told the attendees, "Earlier this week we have reached a very important and significant milestone in that process as the FAA has approved our plan to test and to ceritify the battery system improvements that we have developed.". Almost half of the dreamliner fleet is operated by Japanese airlines All Nippon and Japan Airlines (17 and 7 aircraft respectively).

Mike Sinnett, Vice President and Chief Project Engineer of the 787 program explained in more detail the improvements that are planned for the batteries. These include:

- wrapping the cells with a electric isolator so the cells can't short-circuit to each other or the cell housing,
- adding a dialetic protection to a spacer bar that runs between the cells,
changes to the battery case,
- addition of drain holes to allow moisture to get away from the cell,
- cable ducts within the cell are being reinforced, 
- casing will be housed in a new stainless steel chamber
- and a conduit will evacuate any possible fumes from the battery to outside of the aircraft.

Boeing will now carry out tests and the modifications will be made to the 50 dreamliners in service and the aircraft in production. Boeing say that the fleet will be operational again in a matter of weeks and not months. CW



Report from AeroNews TV. Click on image to play.