Q – We have been following the story, now on the New York Times second and third page, of the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner. I am writing this on February 8th and I wonder what the status is. We are supposed to fly the plane in April on United. You all seem to be honest journalists so let me ask you a personal question. Would you allow your family to board this aircraft?
A – Yes, if it was parked on the tarmac with the engines turned off. Here is the thing: No one, as of this date, has been able to determine the cause of the on board battery fire and the severe overheating issues. Progress is going extremely slowly because the battery maker, in Japan, thought to be the culprit, has come out of this with few scars.
Believe it or not, this is a major technological mystery. Now, it is thought that it may be at least a month before the cause of the problems is pinpointed and required fixes are made. It may involve complete re-engineering of portions of the electrical power system.
United has announced it is cancelling scheduled 787 flights through most of February. We would want this aircraft to be flying worldwide for at least six months and be incident-free, before we would consider flying her. And we’re among the Dreamliner’s biggest fans.
