Boeing defends Dreamliner, safety questions remain

Boeing's 787 is supposed to revolutionize air travel. It just needs to get out of its own way first.

The new plane is undoubtedly Boeing's most visible. It's built from composites instead of aluminum and comes with the promise of the most comfortable ride in the sky. At $200 million each, 787s are an important part of Boeing's future, even though it will be a while before it makes money on them.

But this sophisticated piece of transportation wizardry hasn't been behaving as designed. Just this week one caught fire, and another suffered a fuel leak. The 787 was delayed for three years, so Boeing's investors and customers notice each time one has a problem. Boeing asserts such growing pains are typical for new models.

The 787's chief engineer said Wednesday that he has “extreme confidence” in the Dreamliner _ Boeing's nickname for the plane _ even as federal investigators try to determine the cause of the fire on board an empty, parked Japan Airlines plane on Monday in Boston. Officials have said one of the plane's lithium ion batteries burned.

The 787 is the first Boeing plane to use lithium ion batteries, which charge faster and can be molded to space-saving shapes compared to other airplane batteries. The liquid inside them is flammable, putting the battery at more risk for a fire than previous airplane batteries, the Federal Aviation Administration has found.

After Monday's fire, the big question for Boeing will be whether the issue is a manufacturing defect, which can be fixed relatively cheaply, or a design flaw, which might require expensive redesign and rework on existing planes, said Citi analyst Jason Gursky.

Boeing has delivered 50 of the 787s, starting in late 2011. It has almost 800 more on order. To get through the backlog, Boeing is ramping up production to build 10 787s per month in Washington state and South Carolina by the end of 2013. By comparison, it cranks out more than one 737 every day. The 737 is Boeing's best-seller, and the company has been building the smaller plane for decades.

In November, Boeing said it had begun making five 787s per month. But if any major manufacturing changes are needed to fix the electrical problems, the company could fall further behind in deliveries.

New planes like the 787 take years _ and hundreds of millions of dollars _ to develop. The roots of the 787 go back to 2003. Boeing has not said how much the research cost. It has estimated it will need to deliver 1,100 of them to break even by some accounting measures.

“It's definitely the most expensive plane program that they've ever developed,” Gursky said.

No customers have canceled a 787 order following the fire, and several airlines have been reported saying they are confident in the plane.

“If airlines are worried, they sure aren't showing it,” said Oppenheimer analyst Yair Reiner in a note to clients.

Investors rallied behind the company Wednesday, sending shares up by 3.5 percent to $76.74. That followed a two-day drop of 4.6 percent. Boeing shares had gained 11 percent in the three months prior to Monday as investors anticipated a growing flow of cash from Boeing's faster production of its big planes.

Besides the fire, another Japan Airlines plane leaked 40 gallons (150 liters) of fuel at Boston Logan on Tuesday. The airline said an open valve caused one tank to overflow through a vent. Last month a United Airlines 787 flying from Houston to Newark, New Jersey, diverted to New Orleans because of an electrical problem with a power distribution panel.

Boeing insisted on Wednesday that the 787's problems are no worse than what it experienced when its 777 was new in the mid-1990s. That plane is now one of its top-sellers and is well-liked by airlines.

“Just like any new airplane program, we work through those issues and move on,” said Mike Sinnett, the 787 chief engineer. He added, “We're not satisfied until our reliability and our performance are 100 percent.”

Sinnett didn't say so, but other new planes have had their own issues, including the Airbus A380 superjumbo. Small cracks have been discovered on the wings, and in 2010 a Rolls Royce engine on a Qantas flight exploded in mid-flight.

He said the nature of lithium ion batteries means no fire extinguisher system will stop them from burning once they start. The NTSB said it took firefighters 40 minutes to put out Monday's fire.

Sinnett said Boeing has no plans to replace the lithium ion batteries with another type. If he had to re-do the choice to go with lithium ion, he said, he'd make the same choice today. (AP)

<관련 한글 기사>

‘꿈의 여객기’ 또 결함, “무서워서 타겠나”


'꿈의 여객기'로 불리는 보잉 787 드림라이너 항공기가 사흘 연속 결함을 일으켰다. 하지만 보잉은 이 기종의 안전성을 확신하며 적극적으로 방어했다.

9일(이하 현지시간) 일본 항공사 전일본공수(ANA)는 787 여객기의 브레이크 문제 때문에 야마구치에서 도쿄로 가는 국내선 항공편을 취소했다.

전날에는 일본항공이 미국 보스턴에서 도쿄로 가는 비행기에서 연료 40갤런이 샌 것을 발견하고 이륙을 취소한 바 있다. 또 지난 7일에는 보스턴공항에서 대기하던 일본항공의 다른 빈 여객기에 불이 붙는 사고도 있었다.

보잉의 787 여객기 수석 엔지니어인 마이크 시넷은 9일 기자들과의 전화회견에서 787 항공기가 "안전하게 날 것이라고 100퍼센트 확신한다"고 말했다.

그는 새 제트기 모델은 모두 첫 1~2년 동안은 문제가 있다면서 보잉의 인기 모델이었던 1990년대 중반의 777기종보다 787의 결함 문제가 심하지는 않다고  덧붙였 다.

7일의 화재는 항공기의 리튬이온 배터리에서 난 것으로 시넷은 이 사고에 대해 분명히 언급하지는 않았지만 배터리가 과열을 방지하도록 설계됐으며 배터리 주위는 화재를 견디게 돼 있다고 설명했다.

리튬배터리는 787 이전에는 대형 비행기에 잘 쓰이지 않았기 때문에 더 관심을 받고 있다.

시넷은 리튬이온배터리는 일단 불이 붙으면 화재 진화 시스템으로는 끌 방법이 없다고 했다. 미 교통안전위원회(NTSB)는 당시 여객기의 불을 끄는 데 40분이 걸렸다고 밝혔다.

보잉의 주가는 화재 사고 때부터 이틀간 4.6% 떨어졌다가 9일 3.2% 올라 76.47달러를 기록했다.

보잉의 신형 787 항공기는 지난해에도 전자장치 문제로 비상착륙한 것을 포함해 여러 차례 결함이 있었다.

보잉은 이제까지 787을 49대 공급했으며 800대가량을 주문받은 상태다.

이와 함께 보잉은 2007년 자사의 F-15 전투기가 공중에서 조각난 사고와 관련해 부품 교체 비용으로 100만달러를 내기로 정부와 비밀리에 합의한 것으로 밝혀졌다.

국방부의 의회 보고서에 따르면 보잉은 결함이 있거나 규정을 지키지 않은 부품을 공급한 것으로 조사됐다. (연합뉴스)