Boeing Co. (BA) on Wednesday defended the safety and reliability
of its 787 Dreamliner following a spate of recent incidents,
including a fire Monday aboard a Japan Airlines Co. (9201.TO)
jet.
Mike Sinnett, vice president and chief engineer for the 787
program, said on a call with reporters that the reliability of the
787 was on a par with the experience of the 777, Boeing's last
all-new jetliner which entered service in 1995.
"I'm 100% convinced that the aircraft is safe to fly," he said
of the 787.
Recognizing the potential reputational and financial impact of
the 787 problems to Boeing, Mr. Sinnett said the company is working
with customers and regulators to improve the in-service reliability
of the aircraft.
Mr. Sinnett declined to comment directly on the probe into
Monday's fire, citing the restrictions of the investigation led by
U.S. air-safety officials. He said the type of auxiliary power unit
battery that caught fire in Boston was designed to protect itself
in the event of over or undercharging its lithium ion
components.
"Knowing what we know now, we would've made the same choice,"
said Mr. Sinnett of the choice to use lithium ion, adding Boeing
has no plans at this time to change the design or use of lithium
ion in the 787's auxiliary power unit and main battery.
Mr. Sinnett added that in the event of a battery fire aboard an
airborne 787, the air in the electrical bay where the batteries are
housed is designed to be released from the aircraft, eliminating
the chance of smoke in the jet's cabin.
Separately, Mr. Sinnett said electrical issues experienced by
Qatar Airways and United Continental Holdings Inc. (UAL) 787s in
December had been traced to a suspect batch of circuit boards
embedded in power panels manufactured by United Technologies Corp.
(UTX) aerospace unit. He added the company had still yet to find a
solution to the problem, but said the problem was not a threat to
the aircraft because of redundancies in its design.
A separate JAL jet suffered a fuel leak in Boston Tuesday and a
All Nippon Airways Co. (9202.TO, ALNPY) 787 domestic flight in
Japan was canceled after a software message indicated an issue with
the jet's brakes.
Write to Jon Ostrower at Jon.Ostrower@wsj.com
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