The manufacturer determined that a power panel in 787 flight test aircraft ZA002's aft electronics bay suffered a "failure" during the Nov. 9 flight, leading "to a fire involving an insulation blanket" that caused main cabin smoke necessitating an emergency landing and the suspension of all flight testing. Boeing said in a statement Thursday that it has "installed an interim version of updated power distribution system software and conducted a rigorous set of reviews to confirm the flight readiness of ZA004, the first of the six flight test airplanes that will return to flight."
The disruption of the flight testing program has led to wide speculation that first delivery of the 787 to ANA, currently scheduled for the 2011 first quarter, will be delayed yet again. Boeing VP and GM-787 Program Scott Fancher did not announce a new delivery schedule, explaining, "As we return to flight test and determine the pace of that activity, we remain focused on developing a new program schedule. We expect to complete our assessment of the program schedule in January."
He noted that initial flight tests will focus on the resumption of "a series of Boeing tests that remain to be completed in the flight test program. That testing will be followed later by a resumption of certification testing."
Boeing stated that it and Hamilton Sundstrand "completed testing of the interim software updates earlier this week. Verification of the system included laboratory testing of standalone components, integration testing with other systems, flight simulator testing and ground-based testing on a flight test airplane." It added that while the flight test fleet has been grounded, "the company continued ground testing as part of the certification program. Additional ground testing will be done by the company on the production version of the airplane to further verify performance of the changes being made."
(Aaron Karp - ATWOnline News)
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