Tag: JAL

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner has had a most unfortunate couple of weeks. There has been the worst publicity that any aircraft could have. An inflight fire or smoke in the cabin are the worst case scenario for aircrew and the public when it comes to air travel.

I have avoided the temptation to jump on the band wagon as I have had the experience of working on an newly introduced aircraft type. There is no test like the daily operation of an aircraft, or any vehicle, to bring out a number of problems that the designer and regulatory authorities have not thought of. The Dreamliner has taken this to a whole new level with the type of problem and the world wide grounding of the fleet. If that wasn’t bad enough then the timeline of not only the fix but understanding the cause is seeing the confidence of the carriers fade away.

There is only so much that the airlines can put up with before the shareholders make the decision to abandon the aircraft and look elsewhere in the competitive world of aircraft supply. Not only that but all the time the airlines are not flying the Dreamliner’s they already operate, the bills are piling up and the lawyers are lining up.

The battery on the aircraft is touted as the source of the problem,which is ironic as it is there to solve problems when the normal power generation is not operating. This is not the first time this type of battery has given trouble. Cessna had them removed from the new Citation. In that case there was an off the shelf replacement which they could switch to. But it is my understanding that the Dreamliner batteries are so specific to the aircraft that a replacement is not possible in the short term. The whole aircraft is such a new concept that they are breaking ground in many aspects of the systems on board.

I love the innovation and cutting edge development. But I think they had too much faith put into the battery type without a ‘plan B’. Lets hope the investigation comes to a successful conclusion soon for the sake of the company and the travelling public.