Dreamliner batteries scrutinized
The Japan Transport Safety Board is examining the overheating of a lithium ion battery on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner which grounded an All Nippon Airways flight earlier in the month. That unexpected problem and a rash of other safety issues with the Dreamliner on JAL and other airlines heralded the grounding of the embattled Boeing jet worldwide.
USA Today reports that Japan Transport Safety Board chairman Norihiro Goto told reporters that the jet’s main battery did not exceed maximum voltage as had earlier been reported.
Goto is reported saying that the maximum voltage recorded for the battery was 31 volts, which was below its 32 volt limit. But Goto added that data also shows an unexplained drop in battery voltage.
"It’s not that it is difficult, but that we are not so familiar with it," Goto said.
The plane’s auxiliary battery is also being studied and data from each will be examined side-by-side.
The Japanese Transport Safety Board is now CT-scanning the interior of battery itself, made by GS Yuasa, a pioneer in large lithium-ion batteries for transportation systems, to find a cause of the conundrum.
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