The arrival of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner faces yet another delay after a fire forced the company to ground all test flights. Boeing said the blaze on airplane ZA002 – which caused the loss of primary electrical power – was the most serious incident since tests started.
The company has cancelled all scheduled test flights and said it was unsure how the incident investigation would impact delivery dates.
The aircraft had 42 employees on board and was on approach to Laredo, Texas, when the incident happened.
Boeing said: “We have decided to postpone flight test activities on other airplanes. Ground test activities will be conducted until flight test resumes.”
“We cannot determine the impact of this event on the overall program schedule until we have worked our way through the data.
“Teams have been working through the night and will continue to work until analysis is complete and a path forward is determined.”
The Dreamliner made its maiden flight late last year – a video of which was shown to delegates at the recent National Business Travel Association convention in Houston – but is still more than three years behind schedule.
Japanese carrier All Nippon Airways is scheduled to be the first airline to take delivery of the Dreamliner in 2011.
The Seattle-based manufacturer has also insisted the incident had nothing to do with the aircraft’s Rolls-Royce engines.
Rolls Royce is currently under pressure after oil leaks were detected on its Trent 900 engines fitted on Airbus A380 superjumbos.
One leak caused an explosion on a Qantas flight last week, forcing the aircraft to make an emergency landing at Singapore’s Changi airport.
www.boeing.com