Boeing 787 Dreamliner

Boeing unveiled their new 787 Dreamliner in July of 2007 and already had more than 600 orders at that time. Many carriers were particularly interested in the Dreamliner because Boeing utilized many new technologies in their 787 Dreamliner that no other company had done before, that affected all aspects of commercial travel by air, from passenger experience to fuel efficiency. Onboard, the Dreamliner is equipped with large personal displays with internet access, spacious cabin with ambient lighting, lower cabin air pressure as well as other new technologies. Unlike previous aircraft, half of the Dreamliner’s body is made up of composite materials, it possesses technologically advanced engines, a lithium-ion battery that replaces the typical nickel-cadmium battery, and an advanced electrical system that replaces the previous mechanical and pneumatic ones. However, Boeing faced barrier after barrier in their attempts to revolutionize the aviation industry. The Dreamliner had numerous technical difficulties that stunted their developmental progress, as expected with any design implementing new technology and eventually led the US Federal Aviation Administration to ground the entire Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet in January of 2013. This marked the first time in over 30 years that an entire model had been grounded. Through numerous tests and modifications, Boeing redeveloped their 787 design and in April of 2013 the fleet was cleared and resumed flying and distributing the aircraft.

Problems

As pioneers in this new wave of the aviation industry, Boeing is discovering the problems with the integration of new technologies and aviation first hand.

Battery

One of the larger problems that plagued Boeing was their implementation of a lithium-ion battery versus the traditional nickel cadmium battery found in most other aircraft. Lithium-ion battery cells have twice the capacity of nickel cadmium batteries and thus conserve weight. Although lithium-ion batteries are present in most personal electronic devices, they can be dangerous, especially on larger scales as illustrated in Boeing’s situation. The US Federal Aviation Administration warned that charging the batteries past maximum capacity could lead to overheating which enables the “formation of highly unstable metallic lithium, which can ignite, resulting in a self-sustaining fire or explosion.” A number of problems have occurred not only within the US but also in other locations such as Japan and have been diagnosed as complications specifically with the battery of the aircraft. Listed below are particular incidents related to the battery malfunctions of the Dreamliner:

• January 7, 2013 - A battery explodes, igniting a fire aboard a Japan Airlines 787 at Logan International Airport in Boston.
• January 16, 2013 - Another battery fire on an All Nippon Airways 787 causes an emergency landing at a Japanese airport in Takamatsu.

Operational

Within the past year, nearly ten major operational problems have been reported from locations including the US, Europe, and Asia. Listed below are recent operational problems. Along with having notorious battery incidents, the Dreamliner has also encountered a number of operational problems that have set them back even further.

Fluid Leakage

• January 8, 2013 – Fuel leaks from a Japan Airlines 787 at Logan International Airport in Boston, delaying its takeoff.
• January 11, 2013 – An engine oil leak is discovered on an All Nippon Airways 787.
• January 13, 2013 – The same All Nippon Airways 787 that experienced a fuel leakage, experiences another during checks in Tokyo.

Electrical

• December 4, 2012 – Electrical problems force a United Airlines 787 to make an emergency landing in New Orleans.
• December 13, 2012 – The same electrical problems found in the United Airlines flight a couple weeks earlier strike a Qatar Airways 787 and force another grounding.
• December 17, 2012 – Electrical problems are discovered on a second United Airlines 787.

Mechanical and Other

• July, 2012 – A General Electric engine on a 787 breaks down during a preflight test in South Carolina. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) declares it a “contained” failure indicating that all materials remained within the engine.
• January 9, 2013 – A 787 operated by All Nippon Airways experiences brake problems and never departs.
• January 11, 2013 – A cockpit window on an All Nippon Airways 787 cracks and has another forced emergency landing.

Expressed Opinions

Tesla Founder Elon Musk, whose automobiles utilize lithium-ion batteries, reached out to Boeing with a sincere offer to help them resolve their problems and stated that he was still waiting for Boeing to let him resolve their battery problems. Although the National Transportation Safety Board was unable to identify the problem, Elon Musk clearly identified the problem as the fact that the cells were too large and the spacing was too small which inhibited the effective dissipation of heat and consequently led to the battery overheating on multiple accounts.

Some sources including column writers were in general agreement of Boeing’s predicament. The consensus followed the idea that Boeing could not be expected to be perfect, especially with their use of new technology. Additionally, with a lot of work they could still succeed and make the impact on the aviation industry they initially intended to.

“Airlines are used to working out the bugs on new airliners, which usually entails non-critical issues that don't affect safety. With many redundancies meant to assure the airworthiness of modern jets, it's far more unusual for regulators to call a plane's safety into question. The 787 may still turn out to be a terrific plane, but at the moment it faces an uphill climb.”

Of course there are opposing views such as those by Paul Marks.

“Call me a cynic if you will, but when I heard that Boeing's 787 Dreamliner had been grounded worldwide after a mere 15 months in service, my first thought was: ‘well, that happened sooner than I expected’. Having followed the plane's tortured development and path to airworthiness certification for New Scientist for more than a decade, it was clearly only a matter of time before something went wrong. The reason is simple: the Dreamliner probably incorporates the broadest collection of untested aviation technologies since the Wright Flyer lifted off the beach at Kitty Hawk in 1903. In the end it was the plane's advanced battery system that brought it down to Earth (though fortunately not with a bump; no one has been hurt) but it could have been any of a number of systems.”

Ungrounded

After months of being grounded and more than 200,000 engineering hours later, Boeing made the necessary changes and received approval by the US Federal Aviation Administration for commercial use. They aimed for three layers of protection: prevention of the event initiation, propagation, and impact on the aircraft. Included in their modifications were spacers, insulation, a tightened voltage range, reduced maximum charging levels, and improved ventilation. Boeing’s 787 Dreamliners resumed flights, production, and deliveries in April of 2013. Boeing furthermore stated that if any battery problems were to occur in the future that their redesigned battery enclosure would prevent any incidents similar to previous ones. Although there have been no battery problems since that time, an Ethiopian Airlines 787 caught fire while at London’s Heathrow airport and another 787 had to return to its origin due to precautionary measures in July. This was followed by two groundings that occurred at the end of September 2013 where Polish LOT Airlines grounded a 787 in Iceland due to a problem with the air identification system and Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA grounded another 787 the previous day due to technical problems as well. However, Boeing maintains that since October 2, 2013, they have had 16 airline customers, 92 airplanes delivered, 40,589 flights, 8,117,800 estimated passengers, and 59,375,370 miles flown.