Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Japan's ANA replaced 10 Dreamliner batteries before emergency landing
TOKYO (Reuters) - All Nippon Airways said it had replaced 10 below-par lithium-ion batteries on its Boeing Co 787 Dreamliners in the months before one of the passenger jets was forced to make an emergency landing due to an overheated battery triggering smoke alarms.
The Japanese carrier, the biggest customer to date for the new Boeing jetliner, did not inform accident investigators in the United States because the incidents, including 5 batteries that had unusually low charges, did not compromise the plane's safety, ANA spokesman Ryosei Nomura said on Wednesday.
 |
Four All Nippon Airways' (ANA) Boeing Co's 787 Dreamliner planes (top) are seen behind another ANA plane at Haneda airport in Tokyo January 29, 2013. REUTERS/Toru Hanai |
ANA did, however, inform Boeing of the faults that began in May, and returned the batteries to their manufacturer, GS Yuasa Corp. A spokesman for the battery maker declined to comment on Wednesday. Shares of the company fell 1.2 percent.
Boeing spokesman Marc Birtel said the airplane maker could not comment as the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has indicated this is now part of their investigation.
The New York Times earlier quoted an NTSB spokeswoman as saying the agency would include these "numerous issues" with the 787 battery in its investigations.
Under aviation inspection rules, airlines are required to perform detailed battery inspections once every two years.
The global fleet of 50 Dreamliners - 17 of which are operated by ANA - remain grounded as investigators in Japan and the U.S. try to find out what caused one battery to catch fire on a Japan Airlines Co 787 at Boston's Logan Airport earlier this month, and a second battery to burn on the ANA domestic flight that made the emergency landing.
The NTSB said on Tuesday it was carrying out a microscopic investigation of the JAL 787 battery. Neither it nor the Japan Transport Safety Board has been able to say when they are likely to complete their work.
(Reporting by Tim Kelly, Dominic Lau and Alwyn Scott; Editing by Chris Gallagher and Ian Geoghegan)
Related Stories:
No link between 787 battery monitor unit-making process, ANA problem - Japan
- It takes nearly 72 hours to get a new polycarbonate passport now
- Najib: Rallies only lead to chaos
- Leave no stone unturned in latest death in lock-up case
- Give birth naturally, women urged
- King launches ‘Colours of 1Malaysia’ at Dataran Merdeka
- Housewife extorted over nude pics
- Election Commission promises utmost transparency in redelineation exercise
- Barisan leaders: 'All for one and one party for all’ a good idea
- Guan Eng confident of Pakatan unity despite pressure
- Too blessed to be stressed
- It can take longer to get a passport for time being
- Penang halts online passport applications
- Authorities move to prevent abuse of social media
- Mission schools ready to provide English-medium education
- Building English confidence among rural kids
- Travel Picks: Top 10 golf resorts around the world
- Chinese premier criticizes EU move on trade measures
- Justice Department opposes AMR's $20 million severance for CEO Horton
- News Corp to take charge of up to $1.4 billion this quarter
- Wall Street Week Ahead: Investors look for signs in the rally's break
- Unhappy with how your fave series is faring? Amazon gives you a say
- Visa, Mastercard ask U.S. court to declare card fees are lawful
- Wall Street posts first weekly loss since mid-April on Fed angst
- IMF's Lagarde escapes formal investigation in court
- Politics of development pays dividend
- A thematic play seen
- Sarawak counters hogging the limelight
- Getting GST acceptance will be tough
- A yen for the unloved dollar standard
- Bitten by the music bug
- Pandelela-Mun Yee and Yan Yee-Jun Hoong bag bronze medals in Mexico
- World No. 1 Nicol sinks Waters to reach British Open final
- China confident of sweeping aside their final opponents
- Koreans in the final despite Dong-keun’s loss
- Macdonald and Marques share the lead
- McIlroy among big names who miss the cut as Molinari leads
- Kuchar leads in weather-hit second round
- Two tied at the top as rain stops play in the Bahamas
- Nico Rosberg revels in the rain as Mercedes stamp their mark
- Whitmarsh: McLaren’s hopes were too high this season
- Affendi brushes off hand injury to win CP130 race in Terengganu
- Hafizh needs to step up a gear after coming in fifth
- Vignesa right on track to retain GT Open title
- Dragons’ Melton confident of getting the better of Pringle in Game 2
- Indiana bounce back against Miami to level series
- Election Commission promises utmost transparency in redelineation exercise
- French soldier stabbed while on patrol near Paris
- It takes nearly 72 hours to get a new polycarbonate passport now
- Najib: Rallies only lead to chaos
- Leave no stone unturned in latest death in lock-up case
- Bomb in Yemeni military vehicle kills two and injures six
- Housewife extorted over nude pics
- Too blessed to be stressed
- New fighting in central Sudanese state
- Syrian opposition struggles to find unity as battle rages on
- DAP’s Ngeh in hot water over subservient tweet
- ‘Harry Potter Wong’ casts his spell
- Rela man in coma after being rammed by biker
- It takes nearly 72 hours to get a new polycarbonate passport now
- Give birth naturally, women urged
- King launches ‘Colours of 1Malaysia’ at Dataran Merdeka
- Too blessed to be stressed
- Tribal violence on campus
- Punching their way to fitness
- Graduating is not the end Talking points
RSS
