A 787 built for LOT Polish Airways is expected to be the first flight test to verify the system, to prove to the Federal Aviation Administration that Boeing’s upgraded battery is safe.
Two months ago on the evening of January 16, the FAA announced it would immediately ground the 787 fleet. That was the day of a second 787 lithium-ion battery incident, when the forward battery aboard an All Nippon Airways jet started smoking while on a domestic flight in Japan. The incident came just nine days after a 787 battery in the rear of the plane smoked and caught fire while on the ground following a flight from Tokyo to Boston.
Early on, it was unclear if the battery incidents were caused by a defect in the battery, or the batteries overheated as a result of something else in the electrical system. After two months of investigation by the transportation safety boards of the United States and Japan, the batteries are now considered the source of the failure, but the exact cause has still not been determined.
For the complete story by Glenn Farley of KING-TV, click here.