Flight Testing Resumed Monday Following November Electrical Fire

The first Dreamliner flight test since an electrical panel on ZA002 caught fire in November occurred Monday. ZA004 took off from Yuma, AZ on a flight to show that the aircraft could safely jettison fuel, which would be required before an emergency landing.

ZA004 File Photo

The resumption of FAA certification flights means Boeing can now work on firming up a revised delivery schedule. Delivery dates had been pushed back again after testing was cancelled. Commercial Airplanes chief Jim Albaugh told The Seattle Times that the company would not release a schedule until the FAA makes a determination about what modifications need to be made to the panel.

Attention is now focusing on debris in the panel which may have caused the fire, and the series of systems failures that followed. One of those was the loss of the primary flight displays in the cockpit.  Boeing has identified some "minor" hardware modifications that will prevent debris from getting to the panel, and some more extensive software changes to help the Dreamliner's electrical system cope more effectively to a failure in a single panel.

ZA002

There is also some speculation that the FAA will stiffen the certification standards following the fire, and an unrelated incident involving a Rolls-Royce engine on a Qantas A380 late last year. That would also have an effect on the delivery date.

FMI: www.boeing.com