787's grounded !

[stevecree]

Ohh dear...Boeing needs to sort these issues rapid style. The 787 has gone from one minor fault / issue to another since in launch with a few incidents of various types this week alone, culminating to today's emergency landing and evacuation due to smoke in the cabin of an ANA a/c. 

Consiquently ANA, JAL and UA have now all grounded their 787 fleets awaiting further inspections    

This is terrible PR for what is a beautiful a/c, that is still without doubt the future despite these "teething" problems.

I can sense the stress levels from Seattle from here !!

[swiftus27]

Seems localized to electrical system (excluding engine issues which aren't boeings fault).   

[Jona L.]

Seems localized to electrical system (excluding engine issues which aren't boeings fault).   

Again RR?! Or this time GE?!

[Infinity]

This is going to be very interesting, especially with regards to how the A350 fares. Should it also have similar issues, it will become very unattractive for airlines to be the launch customer. This is an utter PR-disaster for all airlines involved, especially ANA, and also for Boeing.
Boeing already paid far beyond 100 mil USD in Unit Deferred Production for the first several dozen Units. IIRC it only just dropped below that not too long ago.
Soon, they'll have to give them out completely free to the launch customer.

[NovemberCharlie]

Again RR?! Or this time GE?!

These issues are not engine related.
Here a link with all problems
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-boeing-787-factboxbre90f022-20130115,0,6622417.story

Hope this gets resolved soon...

[swiftus27]

The most recent issues are not engine related but are all part of the electrical system in the forms of batteries or leaking oil from a APU.  Yes, there was a fuel leak too but those are generally quick fixes.  There were some engine issues with a GE engine back in July at Charleston airport in South Carolina and an oil leak recently.

[freshmore]

I believe the Lithium Ion Batteries are susceptible to some sort of thermal heating problem when they have been overcharged, hence fire. Boeing say there are systems in place but clearly this isn't working. Either that or the manufacture of these batteries got something wrong here, this particular manufacture is Japanese. Lithium Ion batteries have not been used to this extent in an airliner before, and the A350 will have these batteries to a similar extent to the B787. Hence the A350 could have similar problems, although they have a different manufacturer and the benefit of seeing Boeing's problems.

It is also worth noting that Lithium Ion batteries are not causing problems just for Boeing, with new electrical vehicles they are causing problems for manufacturers of these as well. Lithium Ion batteries are best kept small with many safeguards to prevent overcharging. I think putting something like a Lithium Ion battery in is a little stupid (even if they are half the weight and double the energy of Nickel-Metal Hydride) and I personally feel Boeing and potentially Airbus have taken a risk to far in terms of safety with the batteries. The worst bit about Lithium Ion batteries where aviation is concerned is the fact that once they start burning they produce their own oxygen to keep the fire burning, which is dangerous in the air, especially seen as these batteries in the 787 are quite large by normal standards of Lithium Ion Batteries. It could mean a fire burns out of control before the aircraft can land.

In my view it is either manufacturing fault, not unheard of, or Boeing have screwed up in the choice of batteries and safeguards for their aircraft. I also feel potentially Airbus have screwed up as well with battery choice, so I wouldn't be surprised to see the A350 running into problems.

The other stuff I think is the least important stuff, that can be sorted easily, or poor maintenance, it does seem to be mostly happening to Japanese Airlines!

[ucfknightryan]

The other stuff I think is the least important stuff, that can be sorted easily, or poor maintenance, it does seem to be mostly happening to Japanese Airlines!

I wouldn't read anything into the fact that most of these incidents have happened on Japanese airlines as ANA and JAL currently own 48% of the active 787 fleet, and they have had their birds longer than anyone else so the % of 787 operation hours is going to be even more overwhelmingly Japanese.

[freshmore]

Yeah, that is also an explanation although the other 50% of the worlds fleet hasn't caused so many problems, and what gets me is it isn't over a period of a few months it is so very sudden in a matter of a week or two when you think about it!

[brique]

Yeah, that is also an explanation although the other 50% of the worlds fleet hasn't caused so many problems, and what gets me is it isn't over a period of a few months it is so very sudden in a matter of a week or two when you think about it!

Its the bane of 'rolling news' : they get a story, run it twice, now they need to spice it up for Hr3, so add related material, i.e. similar incidents, and by Hr12, its a crisis! Even more so when you have a nice dramatic aerial shot of a plane with escape chutes deployed surrounded by emergency vehicles. As for the name 'Dreamliner', its a subbies perfect lead-in for a fancy headline.

It doesnt take long googling different types to find similar problems occurring almost daily : engine fails, cracks, instrument fails, electrical problems, undercarriage problems, etc, etc. Most never make the national news, and never will, unless one leads to dramatic pictures/copy : then the rest will get added to the soup for flavour.