WASHINGTON (AP) ― A Boeing plan to redesign the 787 Dreamliner’s fire-plagued lithium-ion batteries won approval Tuesday from the Federal Aviation Administration, moving the cutting-edge planes a step closer to flying passengers again.
The plan includes changes to the internal battery components to minimize the possibility of short-circuiting, which can lead to overheating and cause a fire. Among the changes are better insulation of the battery’s eight cells and the addition of a new containment and venting system, the FAA said in a statement.
The FAA statement didn’t provide an estimate for when the grounded planes might return to service. Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Washington, who was briefed by the agency, said that if all goes well, the FAA could give final approval by mid- to late April for the 787 to resume flight.
All Nippon Airways’ Boeing 787 Dreamliner passenger jets are parked on the tarmac at Haneda airport in Tokyo. (AP-Yonhap News)
Boeing would still have to retrofit the 50 planes already delivered to eight airlines in seven countries, Larsen said in an interview. That could mean the plane wouldn’t return to the skies until late April or early May, he said.
First, Boeing’s redesigned batteries have to pass a series of 20 separate tests lab, Larsen said, then flight tests would follow.
“If there’s any one test that isn’t passed, it’s back to the drawing board for that particular part of the tests,” he said.
So far, test flights of two 787s have been approved ― one with a complete prototype of the new battery, the other with only a new, more robust containment box for the battery, Boeing spokesman Marc Birtel said.
The plan is an outline for a recertification of the plane’s batteries, the FAA said. The 787 has two identical lithium-ion batteries, one of which is located toward the front of the plane and powers cockpit electrical systems, the other toward the rear and used to start an auxiliary power unit while the plane is on the ground, among other functions.
Every item that is part of an airplane, down to its nuts and bolts, must be certified as safe before FAA approves that type of plane as safe for flight.
The 787 fleet worldwide has been grounded by the FAA and civil aviation authorities in other countries since Jan. 16, following a battery fire on a Dreamliner parked in Boston and a smoking battery that led to the emergency landing of another 787 in Japan.
