In the last month not a day appears to pass without some news about a glitch, malfunction, or full-blown fire, affecting the ironically named Boeing Dreamliner (resulting in the stock soaring to daily all time highs). Today promises to be no different, with not one, not two, but three separate incidents impacting the airplane.
Reuters reports [8]that Qatar Airways has taken one of its 787 Dreamliners out of service following what it described as a "minor" technical issue. "Minor" as in a burnt-out indicator light, or "Minor" as in the plane nearly fell out of the sky burnt to a crisp? The distinction can be important.
"The airline and Boeing the airplane's manufacturer, declined to give further details but industry sources said they were treating seriously reports that the aircraft had been grounded for days after a problem with an electrical panel. According to web tracking service Flightaware, the aircraft, registered as A7-BCB, has not flown since Sunday, an unsually long downtime for a long-haul jet designed to save fuel bills." Well, it's usually something.
From Reuters:
"This is a minor issue for us, and not an incident, so we are not commenting," a spokeswoman said.
A spokeswoman for Boeing said, "We request that you channel all your enquiries to Qatar Airways."
Two industry sources said smoke had been reported near an electrical compartment while the jet was on the ground in Doha. It was not clear whether passengers were on board at the time, but the aircraft's next flight was carried out by another model.
Two people familar with the matter, asking not to be identified, said smoke had been reported near an electrical compartment while the jet was on the ground in Doha. A failure in a similar bay caused an fire during a test flight in 2010.
A fire-brigade supervisor in Doha said it did not have any record of an incident with an airport-related call last week.
But wait, there's more!
India's aviation regulator said earlier it had started an investigation after an oven in a 787 operated by Air India overheated during a domestic flight, causing smoke. There was no interruption to services.
Japan's ANA, which operates the world's biggest fleet of Dreamliners, also said on Friday it had found damage to the battery wiring on two 787 locator beacons.
Tests have been ordered on the beacons after a parked Ethiopian Airlines-owned 787 Dreamliner caught fire at London's Heathrow this month, causing extensive damage to the plane.
Why are so many "glitches" affecting the Dreamliner? Simple. As the following schematic so aptly demonstrates, the airplane is nothing but a flying representation of the European Union - every component is from a different country, held together by the "monetary cohesion" superglue equivalent of a Boeing assembly, and lots of political shareholder capital.
[9]
[10]
As such, it is nothing short of a grand symbol of how multiculturalism can result in tremendous success.... And the occasional daily fire breakout at 30,000 feet.