787 fire while on the ground and unoccupied at BOS

[texman]

Talk to a Boeing eng yesterday. It was the APU battery. She works on both 787 and 747-8.

 

[dougdrvr]

.....back to the original topic of this thread the 787.

One of the things The Seattle Times mentioned is that with the 787 Boeing told it's suppliers what they wanted and gave them control of the design of that component, such as major components of the electrical system!

Is it true the wings are heated by the electrics and not bleed air? I can't think of another A/C that does this.

And I thought I was guilty of thread creep? And yes, original Citations had electrically heated inboard wing sections.

 

[JimNtexas]

Last time I checked there were 18 at ANA and 11 at Japan airlines. There is a lot of talk about outsourcing, electrical systems, windshield cracks and whatever else it's being toss around, but battery runaway, ... These are all just the normal gremlins that appear in all new A/C's designs.

The 787 APU battery is made by Yusua, who also make the battery for my Yamaha FJR motorcycle.

 

[dicko]

Last time I checked there were 18 at ANA and 11 at Japan airlines. There is a lot of talk about outsourcing, electrical systems, windshield cracks and whatever else it's being toss around, but battery runaway, windshield cracks and sticky fuel dump valves are not exclusive problems of the 787, they have nothing to do with outsourcing since all these components are made in good'ol USA. And they have nothing to do with construction methods nor the materials used to build this A/C. These are all just the normal gremlins that appear in all new A/C's designs.

The uncontrolled Lithium battery 'runaway' is the incident that concerns me the most. Im not familiar with the fire protection system on the aircraft, but it would appear to be a potentially sticky problem if it occurred mid Pacific ocean.

You mentioned that this wasn't exclusive to the 787. Are there any other examples ? Is the APU required to be running on ETOPS routes ?

 

[Dumb Pilot]

The 787 APU battery is made by Yusua, who also make the battery for my Yamaha FJR motorcycle.

So what? General Electric makes light bulbs, it doesn't concern me that they also made the engines on the 767 I fly.
The whole conversation about outsourcing sounds like Boeing contracted a plastic fork manufacturer in Delhi and hired them to make the 787's electrical systems, when in fact all of the manufacturers that worked on that proyect are world class, high quality corporations.

If you are so concerned as you say, then don't fly the thing. I on the other hand will have no reservation flying it if offered the chance. This whole conversation has been had pretty much about every other A/C out there, one of the most successful airplanes in history is the 737, you guys forget that rudder problems planted a few of them on the ground, or the 777 that lost power on both engines on final, how about all the AB products that have had flight control problems, instrument problems and cracks on the wings.

 

[JimNtexas]

So what? General Electric makes light bulbs, it doesn't concern me that they also made the engines on the 767 I fly.
The whole conversation about outsourcing sounds like Boeing contracted a plastic fork manufacturer in Delhi and hired them to make the 787's electrical systems, ...

Easy there big fellow, I just pointed out that the battery in question came from a highly reputable company. Anything else you inferred was not included in my post.

We're actually in violent agreement.

 

[IAHERJ]

The uncontrolled Lithium battery 'runaway' is the incident that concerns me the most. Im not familiar with the fire protection system on the aircraft, but it would appear to be a potentially sticky problem if it occurred mid Pacific ocean.

You mentioned that this wasn't exclusive to the 787. Are there any other examples ? Is the APU required to be running on ETOPS routes ?

The only Boeing that currently flies ETOPS and requires the APU to run during the ETOPS portion of the flight is the 737NG.

 

[SWA Bubba]

So what? General Electric makes light bulbs, it doesn't concern me that they also made the engines on the 767 I fly.
The whole conversation about outsourcing sounds like Boeing contracted a plastic fork manufacturer in Delhi and hired them to make the 787's electrical systems, when in fact all of the manufacturers that worked on that proyect are world class, high quality corporations.

If you are so concerned as you say, then don't fly the thing. I on the other hand will have no reservation flying it if offered the chance. This whole conversation has been had pretty much about every other A/C out there, one of the most successful airplanes in history is the 737, you guys forget that rudder problems planted a few of them on the ground, or the 777 that lost power on both engines on final, how about all the AB products that have had flight control problems, instrument problems and cracks on the wings.

Reports I've seen says Boeing has already delivered 50 of these planes, which is more than the 29 described above. And Dumb Pilot is completely correct--ALL new-design aircraft have initial issues, which is why some people say "never fly the 'A' model of anything." However, they are normally not that serious.

Dumb listed many examples, including Boeings and Airbusses, although he neglected the most famous example: Airbus' third-ever (delivered) new A320 crashed with fatalities in June 1988, reportedly due to a combination of items, including an uncorrected position error in the Pitot-static system that caused the pilot to be lower than he thought he was. And of course, the software that (the pilot said) caused the engines to retard to idle as if it was landing when he only intended a low pass.

Sh!t happens. However, modern aircraft are so well-designed and tested, that it's just little stuff. You can probably blame our 24-hour news cycle for sensationalizing every little thing that happens. Not just about planes, either.

Bubba

 

[JimNtexas]

Here's an article reporting on the latest NTSB update on the JAL fire, including a scary picture of the APU battery.

 

[Dumb Pilot]

http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2020139494_787emergencyxml.html

All grounded now! They will be highly motivated to figure out the problem.

I have a feeling my cozy 50 hours a month will go up in the next few months.