Boeing recently announced that it is more than halfway done with the testing of its potential fix for the Dreamliner’s failed lithium ion battery, which will likely be concluded when the company performs lingering ground and flight tests.
According to The Associated Press, the company has reported preliminary results of the tests are favorable for getting the planes back in the air. Marc Birtel, a spokesman for the company, said the testing is in line with initial plans for fixing the smoking battery problems. All Dreamliners were grounded on a mandate from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) when several fires were reported earlier in the year. In this time, Boeing has sought to fix heat insulation problems in the batteries and develop new venting methods.
Now, the company is tasked with performing a series of tests that show the permanent fix will indeed make the plane safe to fly. It will be up to the FAA to review the results and decide if it will lift the mandatory grounding currently in place. However, the testing process has already gone on longer than the company first suggested it would, back on March 15.
“We are all working toward returning the 787 fleet to service in the most expeditious manner possible, but we are being thorough and won’t shortcut the test and certification process,” Birtel said in a written statement.
According to the media outlet, Boeing performed a test on Wednesday that many thought was another Dreamliner fix, but was only a “routine test flight designed to address some of the component reliability projects,” Boeing confirmed. The company added that a test flight for the Dreamliner will “take place in the coming days.”
Boeing isn’t taking the battery debacle lightly. According to Bloomberg, the company recently sent a team of engineers to Japan to help with battery testing projects in the country. The engineers will spend five days working on each plane, which will require replacing original battery kits with those that were developed during the re-testing process.
According to the media outlet, all planes must pass inspection from the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau, which won’t come until at least after the FAA makes its decision.
“This will move really fast in terms of being able to get the airplanes back into the air” after FAA approval, Boeing Commercial Airplanes President Ray Conner said. “We will then work with the local authorities, work with the airlines and those kinds of things, but we are prepared, we’re ready to go.”