Boeing’s nightmare: World’s entire 787 fleet grounded

US Federal Aviation Administration ordered US carriers to ground all their 787s pending review.

15:44 20 January 2013

After several problems reported, US Federal Aviation Administration ordered US carriers to ground all their 787s pending a review of critical systems aboard the aircraft. The same directive was given to Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways. On Friday, all 787 fleet around the world were officially grounded.

 

Recent incidents that fueled the growing concern of aviation authorities and passengers include fire in the battery pack of an auxiliary power unit of a Japan Airlines 787, and fuel leak which delayed the departure of another Japan Airlines 787 from Boston to Tokyo. 

 

Following FAA directives, Boeing shares dipped a further 1% on Thursday. However, Boeing said it remained confident that the aircraft was safe. The company which spent about $32-billion on the 787 project, indicates that the fleet has logged 50,000 hours of flight time. 

 

“Its in-service performance is on par with the industry's best-ever introduction into service - the Boeing 777," the company said.

 

The 787 is one of only a handful of aircraft to be grounded in the history of the commercial aviation "Jet Age".