Boeing 777 $2.7 million fine

Boeing 777: The FAA says Boeing was installing low-quality fasteners on the 777 aircraft. Now, two airlines say they have found faulty wiring on their Boeing 787 emergency transmitters.

Federal air safety regulators are seeking a more than $2.7 million fine against Boeing over quality control lapses related to parts used in the 777.

The 777 is a long-range passenger airliner. The Federal Aviation Administration says in a statement Friday that Boeing discovered in September 2008 it had been installing fasteners on the airplanes that didn't meet FAA safety standards.

The FAA opened an investigation one month later. The agency says Boeing repeatedly submitted plans that set deadlines to fix the problem, only to miss those deadlines.

The statement says the company finally implemented a plan to address the fastener issue in November 2010, more than two years after Boeing first learned of the problem.

Second Incident Boeing 777 suffers mid-air emergency

Hydraulic leak forces San Francisco-bound plane operated by Japan Airlines to return to Tokyo three days after Asiana crash.

A San Francisco-bound Boeing 777 operated by Japan Airlines turned back to Tokyo on Monday after its crew detected a leak in the hydraulic system that controls its flaps, the carrier said.

The incident came three days after an Asiana Airlines 777 crashed in San Francisco after approaching at dangerously low speed, killing two people. The JAL jetliner, carrying 236 passengers, returned to Tokyo's Haneda airport after departing three hours and 20 minutes earlier.

The incident came three days after an Asiana Airlines 777 crashed in San Francisco

Maintenance engineers were investigating the cause of the leak, a spokesman for the Japanese flag carrier said. Two teenage Chinese girls on their way to summer camp in the US were killed and more than 180 people injured in the San Francisco crash, the first fatal accident involving a Boeing 777 since they entered service in 1995. Hours afterwards, the Asiana Airlines president and chief executive, Yoon Young-doo, said the plane did not appear to be at fault.

Ethiopian Boeing 787 DreamLiner Fire in Heathrow Airport

All runways were closed for nearly 90 minutes after the fire at 16:30 BST. No passengers were aboard the plane at the time, a Heathrow spokesman said.

BBC News

Fifty Dreamliners worldwide were grounded in January after malfunctions with the plane's lithium-ion batteries.

Boeing modified the jets with new batteries and flights resumed in April.

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch of the Department for Transport has despatched a team to the scene.

The Ethiopian Airlines Dreamliner in the Heathrow incident - named the Queen of Sheba - flew from Addis Ababa to Nairobi on the first commercial flight since the grounding.

Pictures of the Heathrow fire showed the Queen of Sheba close to a building and surrounded by fire vehicles. London Fire Brigade said its crews assisted Heathrow staff.

Fire-retardant foam was sprayed at the airliner, and an area on top of the fuselage in front of the tail appeared to be scorched.

Ethiopian Airlines said smoke was detected from the aircraft after it had been parked at Heathrow for more than eight hours.

Dreamliners Incidents

The groundings of all Dreamliners in service in January followed two major incidents concerning the plane's two lithium-ion batteries.

On 7 January, a battery overheated and started a fire on a Japan Airlines 787 at Boston's Logan International Airport. Nine days later, an All Nippon Airways 787 had to make an emergency landing in Japan after a battery started to give off smoke.

The two batteries are not used when the 787 is in flight.

Boeing 777 San Francisco Crash: Asiana Airlines pilot tried to abort landing

The Boeing 777 from  Asiana Airlines that crashed at San Francisco's airport on Saturday was travelling "below" its intended air speed and its pilot tried to abort the landing just seconds before it hit a seawall in front of the runway, the US National Transportation Safety Board said on Sunday, July 7.



Eye Witness Video of Asiana Boeing 777 Crash in San Francisco

Information collected from the plane's cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder indicated that there were no signs of trouble until seven seconds before impact, when the crew tried to accelerate, NTSB Chairwoman Deborah Hersman said at a news conference at the airport

A stall warning sounded four seconds before impact, and the crew tried to abort the landing and initiate what's known as a "go around" manoeuvre just 1.5 seconds before crashing, Hersman said.

Asiana said mechanical failure did not appear to be a factor in the crash. Hersman confirmed that a part of the airport's instrument-landing system was offline on Saturday but cautioned against drawing conclusions from that, noting that the so-called glide slope system was not essential to safe operations in good weather. She said it was a clear day with good visibility.

The impact knocked off the plane's tail and the aircraft appeared to bounce violently, scattering a trail of debris and spinning before coming to rest on the tarmac.

Twits from the Crash

I just crash landed at SFO': Samsung executive tweets dramatic escape from burning Boeing 777

[caption id="attachment_1538" align="alignnone" width="600"] David Eun Boeing 777 Crash Survivor Photo[/caption]

In a tweet sent at 12.13pm (PDT) Mr Eun said: 'I just crash landed at SFO. Tail ripped off. Most everyone seems fine. I'm ok ... surreal.'

Mr Eun, executive vice-president of Samsung Electronic's global media services, added that emergency services were helping the injured off the plane, and added: 'I haven't felt this way since 9/11.'

Boeing 777-300 ER Photos and Videos

It is the world's largest twinjet and has a capacity of over 300 to 550 passenger.

Boeing 787 Dreamliner News Updates

Latest News Posts about the Boeing 787 dreamliner glitches and incidents from Official Sources.

From The Economist : Dream on, Boeing

Jan 14th 2013, 13:42 by N.B. | WASHINGTON, D.C.

THE SAFETY record of American airlines over the past decade is nothing short of extraordinary. Flying has become even more safe than it was already (ie, very). American airlines, and their willingness to cooperate with federal regulators, deserve much of the credit. Next on airplane manufacturers' agenda, though, is the Boeing 787, a jet that airlines love because it is quieter and more fuel-efficient than existing airliners.

There's just one problem: the 787 keeps running into safety hiccups. The latest, a fire aboard an empty Dreamliner in Boston last week, has received worldwide attention. Now the American government has opened a probe into the plane's safety, despite maintaining that it is still safe to fly. It's a tough line to walk: at the same time that American authorities are assuring passengers not to worry about the 787, they're poking around its insides, trying to make sure that the fuel leak that caused last week's incident won't happen again.

The 787, of course, is one of the most closely watched new planes in history, with safety authorities and the press monitoring every incident and problem with the all-composite airplane. And as USA Today notes, such an intense examination of the new plane might not be a bad thing:

A government review of the design, manufacturing and assembly of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner is a publicity nightmare for the company and its new-age plane.

However, industry analysts say, the microscopic examination of the jetliner could ultimately put to rest any concerns that the flying public may have by showing it's as safe as it is innovative.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said Friday it was undertaking a comprehensive review of the plane after a series of glitches occurred over the past week.

From CNBC :
Boeing Traces Source of Dreamliner Fire; Another 787 Has Problems

Published: Tuesday, 8 Jan 2013 | 5:35 PM ET

One day after a Dreamliner caught on fire, Boeing found itself facing another 787 with problems—a fuel leak that sent the aircraft operated by Japan Airlines back to the gate at Boston's Logan International Airport.

This at a time when the aviation company said it has traced the source of the fire to a lithium ion battery in the Auxiliary Power Unit (APU).

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Meanwhile, a second straight day of headlines and pictures of emergency crews surrounding a Dreamliner weighed on Boeing shares. Shares of the Dow component fell another $2 (2.63 percent) on heavy volume. It marks the worst two consecutive days for Boeing shares since Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 of 2011.

Lithium ion battery source of fire

While the National Transportation Safety Board has decided to send two more investigators to Boston to work on the Dreamliner fire case, Boeing said it traced the fire to a battery in the planes auxiliary power unit. (Read More: Fire Puts Dreamliner Under Scrutiny.)

NTSB

NTSB Investigator Mike Bauer inside the Boeing 787 under investigation at Boston's Logan Airport.

"Nothing that we've seen in this case indicates a relationship to any previous 787 power system events, which involved power panel faults elsewhere in the aft electrical equipment bay," Boeing spokeswoman Lori Gunter said.

That initial determination is important since three other Dreamliners in recent weeks have experienced either electrical problems or have had their electrical systems checked for potential issues.

Meanwhile, airlines currently flying the Dreamliner have been quietly inspecting their planes to make sure the APU battery and its wiring is properly connected and operating as it should.

All Nippon Airlines, which has 17 Dreamliners, said it made inspections overnight at the urging of Japan's Ministry of Transportation. ANA found no problems.

That was not the case with United Airlines according to the Wall Street Journal. It said United found improper wiring on one Dreamliner battery. United would not comment on the report.

Fuel Leak on Boston runway

For a time on Tuesday, it seemed like deja vu, with pictures coming out of Boston showing emergency crews surrounding a Japan Airlines Dreamliner. (Read More:After Boeing 787 Fire, Another Dreamliner Has Fuel Leak.)

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Beware Boeing 787 'Teething Pains': Analyst

The long-term bull case for Boeing remains, despite a fire on a 787 aircraft on Tuesday, says Carter Leake of BB&T Capital Markets.

This time, the problem involved a fuel leak. The plane lost approximately 40 gallons of jet fuel before being brought back into the gate for an inspection. While the plane eventually took off for Tokyo, the fuel leak was a reminder of the FAA airworthiness directive in December requiring airlines to check the fuel line connections on all Dreamliners.

Long-term damage to Boeing & the Dreamliner

This is not the first high profile problem involving the Dreamliner. Given its complexity and technological advancements, launching the 787 has been filled with delays and setbacks. (Read More: Is the Boeing 787 Dreamliner Truly a Game Changer?)

Now that the Dreamliner is in service with 46 delivered to airlines around the world, these latest problems are magnified. They also come as Boeing is in the midst of ramping up production of the Dreamliner. The company still has a backlog of more than 800 Dreamliner orders and so far there's no indication airlines have cancelled 787 orders because of the recent problems.

"There are many new technologies in this plane, so inevitably there will be many glitches," said Richard Aboulafia, an aviation consultant with the Teal Group in Washington, D.C. "But put the words 'fire' and 'new jetliner' together in a sentence and you're bound to scare travelers and airlines. Boeing will be able to make this situation right, but they need to act fast to avoid serious problems with customers."