A team of engineers and technicians from Boeing began work today in Boston to repair a battery compartment on a Dreamliner 787 operated by Japan Airlines that caught fire on Jan. 7. After another battery failure on an All Nippon Airways flight, all Dreamliners were grounded until the problem with the batteries could be fixed.
Earlier this month, the Federal Aviation Administration said Boeing could conduct limited test flights of the Dreamliner. The fire aboard the Dreamliner in Boston started with a short circuit in one of the lithium ion battery’s eight cells, causing a “thermal runaway. Temperatures reached 500ºF
The Boston repair crew will first clean out the existing damaged system and install a new one surrounded by a heavy-gauge aluminum plate box around the battery compartment to contain the potential of a catastrophic outcome of a battery fire while the plane is returned to Seattle. They expect to be in Boston for close to a month.
The Dreamliner represents a major evolution in aircraft design because of its carbon composite (very strong reinforced plastic) fuselage. There have been no publicly reported problems with composite system since the Dreamliners were released for commercial use.
