New Delhi: In yet another case of electric component trouble for Dreamliner, ovens on Air India's entire fleet of brand new Boeing 787s are getting a major retrofitting done following numerous instances of these appliances heating up. This is the second major single component check after the malfunction in batteries that had led to the grounding of this aircraft globally in January for four months.
On some occasions there was so much smoke on an oven of a particular AI Dreamliner that the crew even suspected fire and used extinguishers. Last week, Qatar Airways grounded a B-787 following smoke from an electric component on the plane. And a fortnight back, a Dreamliner of Ethiopian Airlines had a small fire while parked at London Heathrow possibly due to electric malfunction.
Clearly, India is taking no chances now. "A team from the oven manufacturer who supplied the equipment to Boeing for being fitted in planes meant for AI is in India. Electric parts that are suspected to have led to overheating are being replaced in all ovens of all the B-787s with AI. The work is being done under supervision of Boeing as AI bought the plane from them and it is their responsibility to give a completely glitch-free product. We are monitoring the entire process," said a senior official of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
02/08/13 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India
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On some occasions there was so much smoke on an oven of a particular AI Dreamliner that the crew even suspected fire and used extinguishers. Last week, Qatar Airways grounded a B-787 following smoke from an electric component on the plane. And a fortnight back, a Dreamliner of Ethiopian Airlines had a small fire while parked at London Heathrow possibly due to electric malfunction.
Clearly, India is taking no chances now. "A team from the oven manufacturer who supplied the equipment to Boeing for being fitted in planes meant for AI is in India. Electric parts that are suspected to have led to overheating are being replaced in all ovens of all the B-787s with AI. The work is being done under supervision of Boeing as AI bought the plane from them and it is their responsibility to give a completely glitch-free product. We are monitoring the entire process," said a senior official of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
02/08/13 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India
