How Boeing planned installing 787 fix in the field-a worldwide exclusive for CNN

Boeing held at least three press conferences to explain the battery system fix for its 787 and it dropped hints here and there about the teams going into the field to install the fix over a five day period per airplane, but officials never revealed the planning that went into the world-wide effort.

Until now.

We sat down with Boeing Commercial Aviation Services (CAS) last week for a world-wide exclusive on assignment for CNN International to get the story about the planning, the logistics, the mobilization not only of the teams of 300 that deployed into the field but for the first time learned of how Boeing drew from across the enterprise–the “One Boeing–” in greater detail than has been previously revealed.

9 Comments on “How Boeing planned installing 787 fix in the field-a worldwide exclusive for CNN

  1. refreshingly different from the Boeing stories so far – good rearguard action from Boeing services , excellent reporting on how a global company delivers service to customers all over the world.

  2. One Boeing ? Sounds like one “Ford” ๐Ÿ˜›

    BARF team = Battery Airworthiness Return to Flight team

    All told – it was a major undertaking for the AOG crew- who came thru as usual.

  3. Reading between the lines it would appear that NTSB and FAA are not entirely in accord?

    • Not necessarily – their jobs are different. The NTSB’s job is to identify the problems with the battery, which they haven’t managed to do so far. The FAA’s job is to ensure safe flight and to ground aircraft where safe flight is in doubt. Taking all things into consideration, the FAA has decided the plane is now safe to fly even if there’s still a potential fault in the battery.

      That’s a judgment you can agree or disagree with. Personally, I agree the 787 is now safe enough to fly. But I disagree with the FAA’s reported assessment that the battery is compliant with the original safety requirements, let alone the more explicit ones that came out after the certification plan was agreed for the 787. In my view, some deficiencies in the battery have been worked around rather than fixed and the FAA should require Boeing to develop a battery that is fully compliant with current best practice.

  4. Pingback: Ethiopian 787 fire: the day after | Leeham News and Comment

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