NTSB Forum Examines Dreamliner Battery Issue: Will 787 Fly Soon?

By Gretchen Kelly

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) held a public forum on “Lithium Ion Battery Safety in Transportation” on April 11-12. The two-day forum focused on the embattled Boeing 787 Dreamliner’s lithium ion batteries. In her opening statement at the forum, NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman said: “Lithium-ion batteries, like other power sources, such as the gasoline that powers so many personal vehicles, come with risks. These batteries are designed to produce energy -- it is their very nature that poses the greatest risk.”

After the forum, Hersman told the press that although the lighter lithium-ion batteries have potential in aviation and other transportation uses, “the risks must be addressed.” She said that the NTSB would review Boeing’s design and risk analysis and the Federal Aviation Administration’s certification process.

All this cautious talk has not prevented airlines from pushing out the news that their Dreamliner fleets will be flying soon. United Airlines, which so far is the only Dreamliner customer in the U.S., has said that it hopes to start flying 787s on its Denver-Houston route starting on May 31. It said it hopes to begin its Denver-Tokyo Narita route beginning on June 10. These dates, of course, would need to be reset if the FAA does not certify the Boeing 787 as safe.

Qatar Airways, another key Dreamliner customer, said that it is projecting that all five of its 787s will be flying by the end of April. Industry experts have pointed to Boeing’s outsourcing of manufacturing and engineering of the ill-fated aircraft as a critical component of the lithium-ion battery failure issue.

Source: Travel Pulse, http://www.travelpulse.com/ntsb-forum-examines-dreamliner-battery-issue-will-787-fly-soon.html