That day, the FAA issued its “airworthiness directive” grounding the model—its first general grounding of an aircraft model since 1979. Several other countries have followed suit, including Japan. “Before further flight,” the FAA said in its Jan. 16 state-
ment, “operators of US-registered, Boeing 787 aircraft must demonstrate to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that the batteries are safe. The FAA will work with the manu- facturer and carriers to develop a corrective action plan to allow the US 787 fleet to resume operations as quickly and safely as possible.”
Among the relevant information that NTSB has already provided are details about the battery. The auxiliary power unit battery, manufactured by GS
Yuasa (Kyoto, Japan), was the original battery delivered with the airplane on Dec. 20, 2012. The battery is comprised of eight individual cells, all of which came from the same manu- facturing lot in July 2012. The battery was assembled in Sept.
2012 and installed on the aircraft on Oct. 15, 2012. It was first charged on Oct. 19, 2012.
As the investigation continued in early February, Boeing asked federal regulators to conduct test flights of its 787 and said it would proceed with plans to build its stretch 787, the 787-9, which aims to carry about 290 passengers, or 40 more than the current model, and fly a slightly longer distance. ME
Economic Outlook: A Good Start for Manufacturing
T
he Institute for Supply Management (ISM; Tempe, AZ) on Feb. 1 reported that economic activity in the manufac-
turing sector expanded in January for the second consecu- tive month and that the overall economy grew for the 44th straight month. The information is based on the latest Manufacturing ISM Report On Business, which surveys the nation’s supply executives.