Boeing today said its crisis-struck Dreamliner jet could be flying again “within weeks”, after it started altering the batteries that over-heated and led to the jets being grounded around the world.
But the American plane manufacturer admitted that it hadn’t identified the cause of the battery fire in a Dreamliner parked in Boston and an overheated battery that led to an emergency landing of another 787 in Japan.
Instead, it has come up with 80 possible causes for the failures, and designed adjustments to the battery.
Boeing said it had changed the 787’s battery, its charging unit and its installation. The changes include wrapping an electrical insulator around each battery cell, so that any overheating would not spread.
Boeing added that those battery tweaks were already being tested by the US aviation officials who ordered 787s to be grounded almost 60 days ago.
“It’s a safe airplane. We have no concerns at all about that,” Mike Sinnett, Boeing’s chief project engineer, said.
Customers including British Airways are expecting compensation for the 787’s delivery delays.
