Boeing is taking responsibility for improving reliability in its 787 Dreamliner, which has had many issues in past months, according to Reuters. The most recent of these being a plane, from Poland’s LOT airline, that had to make an emergency landing at Keflavik airoport in Reykjavik, Iceland.
The problem this time was with the antenna that transmits the plane’s identification, in order to be granted permission to use air space. Without this system, planes have to be granted pre-approval from flight control directly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8hDWSg16o0
Since the plane couldn’t be identified right away, Norwegian authorities refused permission to fly through their airspace. Boeing’s Dreamliner was expected to somewhat revolutionize air travel, but has, so far, seen too many hiccups for comfort. So what is Boeing doing to make things right?
“LOT has already made the proper arrangements and parts and personnel are en route to address the issue and return the airplane to flight status,” Boeing spokesman Marc Birtel said in a statement sent to Reuters. “Boeing stands ready to help if asked.”
Boeing Commercial Airplanes Marketing Vice President Randy Tinseth at a press conference in Chile’s capital Santiago said,
“Today, the reliability of the 787 is better than 95 percent. It’s not as good as we’d like to see it. It’s not as good as our customers would like to see it. So we’re looking at ways to improve that reliability over time. I would refer to the problems as teething problems, I don’t think they’re systemic,”
According to Reuters, Tinseth suggested the process of improving reliability could be a long one. Many new airplanes have issues right after being introduced. Take for example, the Airbus A380 Superjumbo. That one had cracks in the wings, but the problem was fixed and the memory faded over time. Hopefully that will be the case for the Boeing 787, and it can go on changing the game in air travel.
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