Airlines pledge to stick with Dreamliner despite fire and technical issue
Airlines have pledged to stick with the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner despite two separate incidents involving the aircraft with Ethiopian Airlines and Thomson.
Heathrow airport was hit by flight cancellations and delays on Friday after a fire broke out on Ethiopian Airlines’ Dreamliner.
Investigators are still trying to find the cause of the blaze, which took place months after the Boeing 787 aircraft was grounded worldwide over a battery problem.
Heathrow’s runways were closed for 90 minutes on Friday, delaying some flights.
Forty-two short-haul flights were cancelled, with most passengers put on alternative flights or carriers to their chosen destinations, a spokesman said.
Thomson Airways also turned back one of its Boeing 787 Dreamliners travelling from Manchester to Orlando after experiencing a mid-flight technical issue.
Engineers were left inspecting the aircraft, while passengers were taken to the US on alternative transport.
A Thomson spokesman said: "Our 787 flights are operating as planned. The aircraft that returned to Manchester Airport on Friday as a precautionary measure has had a small number of components replaced. It has been fully tested and is fully operational."
"The safety of our customers and crew is of paramount importance and we would like to apologise for the delay caused."
Ethiopian Airlines, which took delivery of four Dreamliners in 2012, said it will continue to operate its fleet, reports the BBC.
The company said its plane had been parked at Heathrow for eight hours before smoke was spotted.
"We have not grounded any of our aircraft," the carrier said in a statement.
"The incident at Heathrow happened while the plane was on the ground… and was not related to flight safety."
The Dreamliner has been moved to a special hangar away from the terminals to allow the investigation to take place.
The UK’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch of the Department for Transport is expected to lead the inquiry, with Boeing, the US Federal Aviation Administration, the US-based National Transportation Safety Board and Ethiopian Airlines also taking part.
The two incidents will be the latest blow to aircraft manufacturer Boeing. All 787s were grounded in January after problems with its lithium-ion batteries.
The aircraft resumed flying in May after global aviation regulators approved Boeing’s redesigns to the battery system.
But within weeks of the 787 returning to the sky, further incidents happened.
Japan Airlines stopped a scheduled 787 Dreamliner flight last month after engineers found a faulty pressure sensor in one of its modified battery containers. The incident happened just one day after the airline resumed services of the 787.
Thomson became the first British carrier to operate the aircraft earlier this week and is taking delivery of eight 787s.
British Airways is due to launch Dreamliner flights in September.
Boeing’s share price dropped by 6.5% in Wall Street on Friday.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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