BOEING'S NEW HEADACHE: REVAMP OF BATTERY SYSTEM MAY TAKE MONTHS.

BOEING'S NEW HEADACHE: REVAMP OF BATTERY SYSTEM MAY TAKE MONTHS.

courtesy ; Boeing787news.com

Just when the people's conscience has settled on the safety of flying, following the nail biting years of post 9/11, here comes a new problem that will affect at least marginally those who fly with some degree of apprehension.

How it will affect the civil aviation industry is a whole 'nother matter.  Already  large, intercontinental airlines are mulling lawsuits or at least proposals to recoup lost money following the FAA's ruling that grounded all 787 Dreamliners last week.

The 787, which was to be Boeing's new flagship aircraft and a source of billion-dollar order contracts, has hit a considerable snag when its batteries were found to be a fire hazard in two separate in-flight cases.

Boeing is now going through the process of revamping the battery systems, and is conducting test flights in which they are monitoring the batteries throughout to ensure that the lithium-ion batteries are safe.

However, Boeing has admitted that the process might take months.  This is something that the major airlines who have already adopted the new aircraft as their main transcontinental vessels, are facing major flight cancellations.

Boeing asserts that the changes are going to be effected on the existing systems.  Some however, have called for the battery type to be changed altogether, since lithium-ion batteries are known to have  ignited in the past.  The question remains in some people's mind as to the soundness of the adoption of lithium-ion batteries in long term flight exactly for the reason cited above.  

Source: Bloomberg 2.10.13