

The 787 Dreamliner's charred battery  (Source:
The battery will be sent to Tokyo for a deeper inspection









On Friday of last week, two more issues occurred.

Source: Reuters

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RE: Excessive Electricity
By othercents on 1/18/2013 2:13:05 PM , Rating: 2
Excessive power being drawn from the battery or excessive power being charged back (overcharging). My understanding on how these batteries are built is that they are supposed to self regulate the electrical output, however there are also systems in place to keep airplane from wanting too much power. I suspect that the pilot decided to start all 4 engines at the same time causing excessive power draw.

I don't see why they are using lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) battery since they don't have as many issues with overheating as the Lithium ions.

RE: Excessive Electricity


RE: Excessive Electricity
By DennisB on 1/18/2013 2:58:00 PM , Rating: 2

Pilots always work down their check & procedure lists even in an emergency. After all their lives depend on correct actions.
I doubt anyone would just decide to do something not in the manual outside an emergency.

RE: Excessive Electricity
By GulWestfale on 1/18/2013 9:51:25 PM , Rating: 2
the 787 has two engines, not four; and normal procedure is to switch them on one by one.

the FAA has now grounded all 787s, and i just read on a news site that boeing has suspended construction of new planes until a solution can be found.

RE: Excessive Electricity
By Keeir on 1/20/2013 5:36:22 PM , Rating: 2


Flight Safety is an agreement between the OEMs, the FAA, and the Airlines. Its possible the "manual" is never followed entirely. Or, as the case can often be, an airline feels a change in a manual is entirely upto them. Even for hard structural issues, let alone things such as on/off issues.

Southwest did it.
Ansett Airlines did it.
China Airlines did it.

RE: Excessive Electricity
By drycrust3 on 1/21/2013 1:24:24 AM , Rating: 2
Not being an airline pilot, as I see it if something goes wrong and the pilot follows the manual and the plane crashes, then the pilot is less likely to have ALL the blame dumped on him than if he didn't follow the manual.
If he (or she) doesn't follow the manual and the plane crashes, then the pilot (or their family) have an almost impossible task of trying to prove whatever decisions they did make were better than the ones in the manual.
Conversely, if they do follow the manual, and the plane crashes, the crash investigators are more likely to put at least some of the blame on the aircraft or the manual.
So, as I see it, if the pilot believes the chances of a crash are almost certain no matter what he does, then he should follow the manual so the plane and the manual and not himself gets blamed.

RE: Excessive Electricity
Not being an airline pilot




RE: Excessive Electricity


RE: Excessive Electricity

