FAA orders airliners to inspect all Boeing 787’s emergency transmitters

The Federal Aviation Administration has requested that all airliners using Boeing 787’s “Dreamliner” conduct a safety check on the plane’s emergency locator transmitter immediately.

The statement comes as a result of a report published by British aviation authorities that narrowed down the source of a recent fire aboard an Ethiopian Airlines 787 at London’s Heathrow Airport to the transmitter on the aircraft.

Specifically, they found that the small orange box was the only component aboard the aircraft with enough power to start a fire. For those unfamiliar with the technology, the emergency locator transmitter is responsible for broadcasting an automated signal if a crash happens. Located near the tail of the plane, it is in an area where there are no fire suppression systems. So, if a fire were to be sparked by the transmitter, “it could pose a significant safety concern and raise challenges for the cabin crew,” British officials said.

As a result, British officials have urged the FAA to tell airlines to disconnect the batteries from all aircraft beacons as a safety measure.

Before they take the step of actually disconnecting the technology, the FAA wants to first investigate the component. In the request, they’ve asked airlines to examine the plane’s transmitters for proper wire routing and to make sure no areas are pinched or damaged.

They also asked that the transmitter’s lithium battery compartment be checked for heat or moisture.

Japanese aviation officials received the same order and followed British authorities’ suggestion exactly. They issued a temporary safety order that asked airlines to remove the 787’s emergency transmitter batteries entirely, and giving permission for these planes to be flown without the beacon enabled.

While nothing is conclusive yet, the fact that a wiring problem is believed to have been found on the Ethiopian aircraft is just another line item on a list of things that have gone wrong for Boeing’s Dreamliner, which include the aforementioned fire at Boston’s Logan Airport, and another smoking battery issue, which resulted in an emergency landing by an All Nippon Airways 787 in Japan.

U.S. and Japanese authorities are looking into the two incidents but haven’t reached a conclusion on the cause of the battery failures.

Story via: ap.org