Does Boeing's Fire Containing Box Meet the Fed's Mandate?

Who knows if the Federal Aviation Administration will allow Boeing to put its Dreamliners back in the air equipped with a box to contain any pesky fires that may erupt from the plane's two lithium ion batteries. I do know that if the regulators accede to this plan, it will be contrary to the special condition of 2007, that first granted Boeing permission to use this novel aviation power source.

Sully Gets His Retirement Watch

Note Sully's JEANRICHARD watch.

These are the days of the celebrity endorsement, so it should not come as a surprise that to the list pilot/hero/author/motivational speaker Chesley Sullenberger is now adding, "Brand Ambassador".

Lean and handsome, in a my-generation-sort-of-way, Sully would have fit in with all the other beautiful celebrities walking the Oscar night red carpet and modeling the designer duds and valuable accessories of luxury goods manufacturers. But Hollywood isn't his world. (Perhaps if he'd occupied even a small part of Tinsel Town, the movie Flight might not have been such an unintentional fantasy from reality.)

Dreamliner in the Rear View Mirror for Some United Pilots

Back in 1980, singer Mac Davis had a hit with his song Texas in My Rear View Mirror and I'm guessing down at the Continental United base in Houston a few pilots are feelin' that way about their erstwhile careers flying the Boeing 787.

N26902 in New Orleans photo courtesy Marc A Wessels

Because, as I reported for Mary Kirby's excellent APEX Editors Blog earlier this week, a good number of those pilots who were headed to the 787 cockpit have been diverted back to their old airplanes. And FAA grounding of the Dreamliner notwithstanding, United has canceled all 787 flights until June.

ANA Dreamliner An Odd Exception to Boeing Design

Japanese investigators are making a remarkable claim in the most recent update into the burning battery on an All Nippon Airways Dreamliner; the ship, JA804A was one of only three Boeing 787s to retain a wiring design the planemaker later revised. 

In the original design, both of the Dreamliner's lithium ion batteries were connected to each other, according to a review of the report, written in Japanese and released by the Japanese Transport Safety Bureau on Wednesday.  Since I do not read Japanese, I rely on the rough translation of my man in Tokyo, Takeo Aizawa, and the very good illustrations and photographs in the report. 

Boeing's Bad Battery News A Re-Occurring Nightmare

UPDATED February 20th

The Japan Transportation Safety Board  has rapid-fire found and diagnosed a surprise second battery problem on the All Nippon Airways Dreamliner that made an emergency landing on January 16th.  (The report in Japanese along with diagrams and photos can be found here.)

Yesterday it said two out of the 8 cells in the aft battery had "deformations or slight swelling of the stainless cases" based on scan images examined by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. 

The NTSB examines the JAL battery

Remember it was smoke in the forward battery in the  E&E bay that prompted pilots to divert to Takamatsu. Associated Press is reporting that improper wiring of the battery to the APU caused the overheating damage.  (Whack-a-Mole anyone?)

When, oh when, will Boeing executives wake up from the never-ending nightmare that is the Dreamliner? I am imagining them with their hands over their ears repeating loudly to themselves, "nah nah nah nah nah nah..." just to drown out the latest news.