News

Boeing asks airlines to check B787 beacons

29 Jul 2013 by GrahamSmith

Boeing has asked airlines worldwide to inspect an emergency locator transmitter (ELT) following a fire on a parked Dreamliner earlier this month.

The move comes two weeks after a UK regulator cited a battery within the beacon as the source of the blaze on an Ethiopian Airlines B787 which closed both runways at Heathrow for 90 minutes (see online news, July 12).

And on Friday the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued an airworthiness directive instructing airlines to take out the ELT from Dreamliners or carry out an inspection of the devices.

Randy Tinseth, Boeing's vice president marketing, said in a blog post last night: "Boeing is asking specific operators of 717, Next-Generation 737, 747-400, 767 and 777s to inspect aircraft with the Honeywell fixed emergency locator transmitters.

"We're taking this action following the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) Special Bulletin, which recommended that airplane models with fixed Honeywell ELTs be inspected.

"The purpose of these inspections is to gather data to support potential rulemaking by regulators."

Boeing also advised rival manufacturers to take similar precautions.

Tinseth added: "It is important to note that Honeywell ELTs have been deployed on approximately 20 aircraft models - including Boeing, Airbus and numerous business aviation aircraft."

Last week, All Nippon Airways reported that it had found damaged battery wiring on two ELTs during safety checks and United Airlines said it had located a pinched wire on one if its B787s.

The ELT battery is not the same faulty battery pack which caused all Dreamliners to be grounded from January to April (see online news, January 16).

boeing.com

Graham Smith

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