|
| Even before two battery failures led to the grounding of
| all Boeing 787 jets this month, the lithium-ion batteries
| used on the aircraft had experienced multiple problems that
| raised questions about their reliability.
|
| Officials at All Nippon Airways, the jets' biggest
| operator, said in an interview on Tuesday that it had
| replaced 10 of the batteries in the months before fire and
| smoke in two cases caused regulators around the world to
| ground the jets.
| ...
| Kelly Nantel, a spokeswoman for the National Transportation
| Safety Board, said investigators had only recently heard
| that there had been "numerous issues with the use of these
| batteries" on 787s. She said the board had asked Boeing,
| All Nippon and other airlines for information about the
| problems.
|
| In a little-noticed test in 2010, the F.A.A. found that the
| kind of lithium-ion chemistry that Boeing planned to use --
| lithium cobalt -- was the most flammable of several
| possible types. The test found that that type of battery
| provided the most power, but could also overheat more
| quickly.
| ...
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/30/business/boeing-aware-of-battery-ills-before-the-fires.html

--bks