Boeing Dreamliner Makes Emergency Landing in Japan

By YOREE KOH, YOSHIO TAKAHASHI and JON OSTROWER

All Nippon Airways grounds its entire fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliners, after one of its planes made an emergency landing in Japan. This follows a series of problems with the 787s, which triggered safety investigations. The WSJ's Jake Schlesinger has the details.

A Boeing 787 Dreamliner operated by All Nippon Airways Co. made an emergency landing Wednesday, prompting a voluntary grounding of Japan's two Dreamliner fleets and an expanded investigation into the technical problems affecting the aircraft.

Alarms indicated smoke in the forward area of the plane, which houses batteries and other equipment, the airline said, and there was a "burning-like smell" in the cockpit and parts of the cabin. The plane landed at Takamatsu airport in western Japan, where the 129 passengers were evacuated using the plane's emergency chutes. The plane also carried eight crew members.

ANA said that the exact cause was still undetermined. The event was designated as a "serious incident" by Japan's transport ministry, setting off an immediate investigation by the Japan Transport Safety Board, which dispatched a team to the scene.

A series of recent technical problems has triggered international regulatory scrutiny for Boeing Co.'s flagship jet. To reduce weight and improve fuel efficiency, the 787 uses carbon-fiber materials and relies heavily on electronic systems that require more powerful generators and higher-energy lithium-ion batteries. A battery was involved in a Jan. 7 fire on a Japan Airlines Dreamliner in Boston that prompted an urgent safety review by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Grounded

REUTERS

Passengers and crew left the plane using the inflatable escape chutes

ANA declined to comment on what triggered the latest alarm, saying it was still being investigated. It has grounded all of its 17 Dreamliners for Wednesday and Thursday to allow for inspections, leading to the cancellation of some domestic flights. It said alternate aircraft would be used for international flights.

Reuters

An All Nippon Airways Boeing 787 Dreamliner is seen after making an emergency landing at Takamatsu airport in western Japan on Wednesday.

Japan Airlines said it, too, would withdraw its Dreamliners from service for Wednesday and Thursday. JAL has five operating 787s.

The recent glitches have varied in severity, from relatively routine software errors to last week's fire in Boston. The groundings on Wednesday were the first for any Dreamliner since commercial service began in the fall of 2011.

ANA Chief Executive Shinichiro Ito said the recent problems will not affect the airline's business strategy, largely centered on the use of the fuel-efficient, long-haul aircraft.

"We are not in a situation where we should change the strategy we have been pursuing," he told reporters following a meeting with transport minister Akihiro Ota. ANA was the first airline in the world to fly the 787.

Other airlines with Dreamliners in their fleet or on order also expressed support.

Qantas Airways Ltd. said it is "confident" the problems will be resolved before it takes its first deliveries in the second half of this year, while state-run Air India said its six Dreamliners were operating normally.

A spokesman for Boeing in Chicago said the company was in touch with ANA over the incident. "We're aware of the event and working with our customer," he said.

The emergency landing will likely expand the focus of the 787's electrical troubles. Officials had said they were examining the electrical system broadly, but while earlier incidents involved components in the aft electrical equipment bay, located behind the wings, Wednesday's involved a forward bay that until now had been largely free from scrutiny. This bay sits beneath the flight deck and behind the nose landing gear. In December, a United Continental Holdings Inc. 787 made an emergency landing in New Orleans following indications of a failed generator, but there was no smoke detected and no emergency evacuation.

When the FAA announced its review on Friday, top government officials and Boeing executives emphasized that they didn't think the recent problems were cause for safety concerns. Boeing has described many issues as routine for a new plane, and the company maintains the jet is reliable.

A spokeswoman for the National Transportation Safety Board, already investigating the Boston battery fire, said its officials are gathering information about the latest incident. An FAA spokesperson said it "will include the incident as part of the comprehensive review" launched last Friday.

The intense scrutiny on the 787 in recent weeks could make flight crews more sensitive to any signs of trouble. ANA, which endured three and a half years of delays before taking delivery of its first 787 in September 2011, has ordered 66 of the jetliners.

The latest incident did not appear to have any immediate impact on bookings. JTB, Japan's largest travel agency, said there had been no sudden cancellations. Toshiro Yajima, a spokesman for Nippon Travel said "for now, we do not see any major confusion, as travelers generally choose their flights by airline, not the type of aircraft."

The jet involved in Wednesday's incident was delivered in January 2012, having been refurbished by Boeing following hundreds of hours of flight testing.

Rechargeable lithium ion batteries?widely used in consumer devices and frequently carried in cargo jets?have long been known to be flammable. If they overheat or are damaged, the result can be a fierce, high-temperature fire.

The lithium battery systems in 787s are much larger and more powerful, which led the FAA to mandate special precautions against overheating.

GS Yuasa, the Kyoto-based manufacturer of the battery, said that it is prepared to send engineers to help the transport ministry and ANA with the investigation.

?Hiroyuki Kachi and Kosaku Narioka contributed to this article.

A version of this article appeared January 16, 2013, on page B1 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Another 787 in Emergency Landing.

Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324734904578244383030183150.html?mod=europe_home

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