Battery that caught fire on Dreamliner plane in Boston had design flaws, investigators say
Fire on Boeing plane parked in Boston led investigators to conclude the FAA should not have certified it as a short circuit ignited flames
A lithium-ion battery that caught fire aboard a parked Boeing 787 last year in Boston had design flaws, and it should not have been certified by the US Federal Aviation Administration, US accident investigators said.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said on Monday that the battery, manufactured by GS Yuasa Corp, experienced an internal short circuit that led to thermal runaway of the cell. This condition caused flammable materials to be ejected outside the battery's case and resulted in a small fire, the NTSB said in its report on the incident.
The agency said its investigators found a number of design and manufacturing concerns that could have led to the short-circuiting, including the presence of foreign debris and an inspection process that could not reliably detect defects.
No one was hurt in the January 2013 incident aboard a Japan Airlines plane, but it contributed to widespread global concern about the safety of the Dreamliner 787. The fire broke out while the 787 was parked at Boston's Logan Airport after passengers and crew had departed.
Another battery overheated on an All Nippon Airways plane later the same month, prompting regulators to ground the global fleet until April that year.
Boeing uses the lithium-ion batteries on the Dreamliner because they are small, lightweight and powerful. With the batteries, Boeing was able to swap heavy hydraulic systems for lighter electronics, which help the Dreamliner burn 20 per cent less fuel than similar-sized aircraft.