Dreamliner makes Emergency Landing

Richard Benedikz

Reuters

16 January 2013

Two Japanese carriers have grounded their Dreamliner fleet after an emergency landing.

ANA has grounded its fleet of 17 Dreamliners after flight NH 692 from Yamaguchi Ube to Tokyo's Haneda diverted to Takamatsu airport where it made an emergency landing at 08:47.

Japan Airlines has also grounded its fleet of seven 787’s until further notice.

At a news conference ANA's vice-president Osamu Shinobe said a battery in the forward cargo hold triggered warnings in the cockpit.

"There was a battery alert in the cockpit and there was an odd smell detected in the cockpit and cabin, and (the pilot) decided to make an emergency landing," Shinobe said.

According to to a statement from ANA the source of the smoke is not yet known and is under investigation.

A spokesman for Osaka airport authority said the 129 passengers and eight crew were evacuated via inflatable chutes. Accordingly five people were slightly injured.

Recently, the 787 Dreamliners has suffered a number of technical problems including fuel leaks, a cracked cockpit window, brake problems and an electrical fire.

Both the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said they were monitoring the latest incident as part of a comprehensive review of the Dreamliner announced late last week.

[Reuters]

View more news