Dreamliner in emergency landing

Jan 16 2013

An All Nippon Airways flight made an emergency landing at a Japanese airport after a cockpit message showed battery problems, in the latest trouble for the Boeing 787 "Dreamliner".

ANA spokesman Takuya Taniguchi said the flight to Tokyo from Ube in western Japan landed at Takamatsu airport and details of the problem were still being checked.

ANA's 787s have encountered several problems in the past two weeks, though no injuries have been reported.

The US government is conducting a review to find out what caused a fire, a fuel leak and other worrisome incidents with Boeing's newest and most technologically-advanced airliner, though it has reassured the public it is safe to fly.

Mr Taniguchi said the airline was not yet prepared to comment on the general problems that have surfaced in the 787.

Japanese airlines have been the first to roll out the 787. Boeing has said that various technical problems are to be expected in the early days of any aircraft model.

A fire started on January 7 in the battery pack of an auxiliary power unit of a Japan Airlines 787 empty of passengers as the plane sat on the tarmac at Boston's Logan International Airport. It took firefighters 40 minutes to put out the blaze. Later last week, a fuel leak delayed a flight from Boston to Tokyo of another Japan Airlines 787.

ANA cancelled a domestic flight to Tokyo on January 9 after a computer wrongly indicated there was a problem with the Boeing 787's brakes. Two days later, the carrier reported two new cases of problems with the aircraft, a minor fuel leak and a cracked windscreen in a 787 cockpit. ANA has said it has no specific plan for inspections and will continue regular operations, though it said it would comply with instructions from the FAA and other authorities.

A Japan Airlines spokesman said it had decided not to cancel all five of its scheduled 787 flights on Tuesday. "We will decide what to do after today based on what ANA finds out about the cause of the problem with their aircraft," said Seiji Takaramoto.

Boeing has said that various technical problems are to be expected in the early days of any aircraft model. "Boeing is aware of the diversion of a 787 operated by ANA to Takamatsu in western Japan. We will be working with our customer and the appropriate regulatory agencies," Boeing spokesman Marc Birtel said.