The 787 Dreamliner has been grounded

[The Inspector]

The NTSB has announced a press conference for Thursday morning to shed some light on it's findings and recommendations, early reports seem to say they will find the batteries will be acceptable if better temperature controlling takes place and the batteries cases be built with separation walls between cells to keep a hot cell from provoking it's neighbor.

[bdk]

I think that the charger has been suspected all along. Thermal control is critical with this kind of battery. I heard that they were looking into pressure relief plugs to help control thermal runaway. Just water cooler scuttlebut of course.

[The Inspector]

Boeing has been given clearance to start flight tests of the 787 for battery issues. The NTSB and FAA are allowing Boeing to fly provided the flights are over unpopulated areas ( the Pacific Ocean is less than 10 minutes West of KPAE. The batteries and their condition must be monitored at all times, the wiring closely inspected and only essential personnel will be permitted on at least the first several series of flights, with particular attention paid to cell #6 which seems to be the common problem inside the batteries involved. YUASA will change the methods and techniques used in making the batteries.
A 787 that was in Ft. Worth for painting was permitted to ferry fly back to KPAE and landed mid afternoon.

[CAPFlyer]

Sounds like they took Elon Musk's advice at least in part from the more technical details of what they're looking at doing in the long run. He said that the design had the cells to closely packed, and if the charging system or contactors (what I think may be the real source of the problem) aren't working perfectly, then there is insufficient protection from a cell having a thermal runaway.

I have no direct knowledge, but I suspect something was changed in the production contactors from the pre-production and prototype aircraft that is the source of the problem. There is no other reason that the NTSB team would be going to Germany with them when they went to do the tests at Siemens. While fixing that may remove the immediate problem, I think it showed Boeing there was too little thermal protection and it would've shown up eventually. It's better to fix it now when there are only 50 delivered instead of when there's 500.

[The Inspector]

Dreamliner ZA-05 departed KBFI and flew over the Columbia Plateau East of the Cascade Mountains in Central Washington for 2.5 hrs/1100 total air miles on Saturday (isn't much in the area except lots of now fallow corn and soybean fields and a very few tiny farm towns) and that leaves Moses Lake/Grant Co. and Fairchild AFB within range in case of a issue. The first step back-

[The Inspector]

Japanese Transportation Dept. officials reported that the APU battery in the 787 grounded in Japan had been either installed incorrectly or wired wrong.
Meantime, Boeing has had sucess with a redesigned test battery with spaces between the cells to prevent cell to cell induction overheating.

[bdk]

http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/2013 ... 3-7-13.pdf

FAA interim report on the 787 battery incident.

[The Inspector]

The FAA has accepted Boeings plan for correcting the battery issues, now it's time to fly the wings off ZA-05 to see if it works.

[bdk]

Ray Conner, president and chief executive officer of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, described the company’s proposal.

“Working with internal and external experts in battery technology, we have proposed a comprehensive set of solutions designed to significantly minimize the potential for battery failure while ensuring that no battery event affects the continued safe operation of the airplane,” said Conner.

Boeing’s proposal includes three layers of improvements, Conner said.

“First, we’ve improved design features of the battery to prevent faults from occurring and isolating any that do,” he said. The new design adds thermal and electrical insulation materials and reflects other changes.
“Second, we’ve enhanced production, operating and testing processes to ensure the highest levels of quality and performance of the battery and its components.” Enhanced production and testing includes more stringent screening of battery cells prior to battery assembly. Operating improvements focus on tightening the system’s voltage range.
“Third, in the unlikely event of a battery failure, we’ve introduced a new enclosure system that will keep any level of battery overheating from affecting the airplane or being noticed by passengers,” Conner said. The enclosure is designed to ensure no fire can develop in the battery or in the enclosure.

Boeing said it will provide details of the new design in the days ahead.

http://boeing.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=2619

[262crew]

http://news.yahoo.com/faa-approves-boei ... IAsJHQtDMD

[WallyB]

FAA may revoke ETOPS (temporarily?)
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...anyNews&rpc=43

[The Inspector]

FAA may revoke ETOPS (temporarily?)
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...anyNews&rpc=43

That makes zero sense, since ETOPS deals with the ability of the aircraft to reach a distant airport on one engine inoperative. The APU battery charging system is not in the loop.
Must be the clown college @ the Mike Baloney Center doing a major CYA.

[CAPFlyer]

Looks like Reuters took the article down.

[WallyB]

Looks like Reuters took the article down.

Moved it: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/ ... ews&rpc=43

Here's the article at http://australianaviation.com.au/2013/0 ... gs-report/ (fair use)

FAA may clip 787′s wings — report

Item by australianaviation.com.au at 1:26 pm, Wednesday March 27 2013

Boeing is ramping up 787 production to 10 aircraft per month even as the jet remains grounded. (Boeing)

While Boeing says a test flight of its troubled 787 Dreamliner has gone according to script, the aircraft could face a new setback as the FAA reportedly mulls limiting the 787’s ETOPS limits.

A 787 took to the skies on Monday for the first time since the model was grounded in mid-January after batteries overheated on a pair of the jets. The two-hour flight, a first step in proving that Boeing has found a solution to those problems, went off without issue, Boeing said. A second test flight is scheduled for the coming days.

But while Boeing hopes to see the grounding lifted by May at the latest, the 787 may return to the skies with its wings clipped. According to Reuters, the FAA is considering temporary limits to the aircraft’s one-engine out ETOPS flying times.

The 787 had been approved for ETOPS flights up to three hours single-engine flying time away from an airport and Boeing has sought permission to extend that range to 5 1/2 hours, which would allow the 787 to fly over the North Pole. However, the FAA is now reportedly considering rolling back the 787’s ETOPS approval to two hours.

That would prove restrictive to current operators of the 50 787’s so far delivered, forcing them to take less direct routes on some long haul flights and likely pushing them to seek further compensation from Boeing. The grounding has already cost Boeing an estimated US$450 million.

[The Inspector]

Reports coming out of Japan today say the J.S. Yuasa lit/i batteries for a HONDA electric car model are overheating sooooo I still don't think it's the vehicle, it's poor engineering by the supplier.