Friday 12 December 2014

NTSB blames bad battery design—and bad management—in Boeing 787 fires

Science Focus

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Bad battery design and bad engineering practices were to blame for the fire aboard a Japan Airlines Boeing 787 in Boston in 2013, according to a final report (PDF) on the incident issued by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) yesterday. The NTSB found fault not only with the manufacturer of the battery, but with Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

In a prepared statement, NTSB Acting Chairman Christopher A. Hart said, “The investigation identified deficiencies in the design and certification processes that should have prevented an outcome like this. Fortunately, this incident occurred while the airplane was on the ground and with firefighters immediately available."

There are two battery systems aboard the 787: the “main battery” in the front of the aircraft, which powers the 787’s ground maintenance systems and provides backup power to the aircraft’s control systems, and another set in the aft end of the aircraft used to start up the 787’s auxiliary power unit (APU), a small turbine engine in the aircraft’s tail which provides electrical power. Both systems used the same types of lithium-ion batteries manufactured by the Japanese firm GS Yuasa. And while the APU batteries were at fault in the Boston fire, a main battery caught fire two weeks later on an All Nippon Airways flight in Japan.

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 » see original post http://feeds.arstechnica.com/~r/arstechnica/science/~3/xbHXl9MOc04/
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