|
| Boeing Co. (BA)'s effort to get its troubled 787 Dreamliner
| back in the air is headed for a challenging final hurdle:
| It needs approval from the U.S. agency that's already been
| burned by signing off on the plane's safety.
| ...
| The FAA isn't discussing its plans for deciding whether the
| battery fix is satisfactory beyond saying that it won't
| sign off on the Dreamliner's return to commercial flight
| until the new battery system is deemed safe, according to
| Laura Brown, a spokeswoman. She declined to comment on
| whether the FAA is under any political pressure.
|
| The FAA's role in approving the cells for the Dreamliner in
| 2007 will be the focus of a two-day NTSB hearing starting
| April 23. The batteries were certified under "special
| conditions," which are rules the FAA creates for new
| technology.
|
| Another NTSB hearing starts today on the use of lithium-ion
| batteries in transportation, and next week, the Dreamliner
| probably will come up when the Senate Commerce, Science and
| Transportation Committee holds a hearing to discuss the
| FAA's progress on safety initiatives.
| ...
| [Transportation Secretary] LaHood, 67, a former seven-term
| Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from
| Illinois, has played a prominent role since the
| Dreamliner's batteries came under scrutiny with a Jan. 7
| fire on a Japan Airlines 787.
|
| At a Jan. 11 news conference, he and FAA chief Michael
| Huerta declared the plane safe. Less than a week afterward,
| an ANA 787's battery began smoldering and spewing vapor
| above Japan, prompting an emergency landing and then the
| grounding.
|
| LaHood's involvement in the 787 decision escalates pressure
| on the FAA, said John Nance, a Seattle-based
| aviation-safety consultant and former commercial pilot.
| ...
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-10/boeing-faces-last-hurdle-for-dreamliner-with-no-rush-faa.html

--bks