The head of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said
Wednesday that the agency is "weeks away" from releasing its
findings into what caused the twin battery failures aboard Boeing
Co. (BA) 787 Dreamliners.
"We're probably weeks away from being able to tell people what
happened and what needs to be changed," NTSB Chairman Deborah
Hersman said at an event in Washington, D.C.
The Federal Aviation Administration grounded U.S.-registered
787s on Jan. 16 following two incidents involving lithium-ion
batteries, including a fire aboard a parked aircraft in Boston on
Jan. 7. The move was followed by other regulators and saw all 50
Dreamliners operated by eight airlines pulled from service.
Ms. Hersman said the investigation isn't only focused on the
cause of the battery failures, but is also looking at the
certification process as part of the FAA's comprehensive review of
the 787's design and manufacturing, which was announced prior to
the fleet's grounding.
"We are evaluating assessments that have been made [by Boeing
and FAA], whether those assessments were accurate, whether they
were complied with and whether more needs to be done," she
said.
"And I think that's important before this airplane is back in
the air to really understand what the risks are and that they're
mitigated effectively."
The NTSB is expected to present new information at a press
conference in Washington on Thursday morning.
Ms. Hersman's comments come as the FAA is evaluating a request
from Boeing to perform its own flight testing in an attempt to find
the root-cause of the recent battery failures. The FAA hasn't yet
announced a ruling on Boeing's request.
Write to Jon Ostrower at Jon.Ostrower@wsj.com