WASHINGTON, January 9 (RIA Novosti) – Boeing’s flagship 787 Dreamliner jet suffered its third incident in three days Wednesday when a Japanese airline canceled a flight due to problems with the aircraft’s brakes.
A domestic Japanese flight operated by All Nippon Airways was grounded Wednesday after a Boeing 787 Dreamliner experienced brake problems, an airline spokeswoman told AFP.
“In the cockpit, an error message related to its brake system was displayed,” AFP cited the spokeswoman as saying.
Incidents with the Dreamliner, which has suffered production delays in recent years, are running at a clip of one per day this week.
On Tuesday, a Tokyo-bound 787 Dreamliner operated by Japan Airlines experienced a fuel leak while preparing to take off from Boston’s Logan Airport. The local transportation authority said about 40 gallons (150 liters) of jet fuel had spilled, but the flight took off later that day.
A small fire broke out in a compartment on another 787 Dreamliner operated by Japan Airlines at Logan Airport on Monday. No passengers were aboard the plane at the time of the fire, which was quickly contained by fire crews, the airport said on its Facebook page.
Boeing said in a statement that smoke was detected on the aircraft after passengers had disembarked.
The Dreamliner came into service a year ago, and the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) informed Boeing last month that it had received reports of “fuel leaks on two different in-service airplanes, and the subsequent discovery of several improperly assembled engine fuel feed manifold couplings on in-service and production airplanes.”
The FAA has given Boeing until January 22 to comment on the jet’s airworthiness.
A United Airlines-operated 787 Dreamliner carrying 184 people made an emergency landing in New Orleans last month due to a midair electrical problem, and Qatar Airways grounded a 787 last month after discovering the same electrical problem experienced by United.
United also discovered electrical problems with a second 787 Dreamliner in its fleet last month.
Boeing said in a statement this week that the small fire at the Boston airport was traced back to the battery used to start the jet’s auxiliary power unit, but that it does not appear to be linked to the aircraft’s previous electrical problems.
“Nothing that we’ve seen in this case indicates a relationship to any previous 787 power system events, which involved power panel faults elsewhere in the aft electrical equipment bay,” the company said.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner has orders from airlines in more than 40 countries, but as of December 2012, it had delivered only to operators in the United States, Japan, India, Qatar, Ethiopia, Chile and Poland. Its biggest clients are United Airlines and All Nippon Airways.
Russian state airline Aeroflot has ordered 22 of the aircraft, while Russian private carrier Transaero has ordered four, according to Boeing’s website.
Elsewhere in the former Soviet Union, Kazakhstan’s Air Astana has ordered three 787 Dreamliners, while Uzbekistan Airways and Azerbaijan Airlines have each ordered two.
