All Nippon’s Dreamliner nightmare
10 Jan 2013 6:23 AM IST
Japan's All Nippon Airways (AN) said it cancelled a Boeing Dreamliner flight on Wednesday because of a brake problem, the third glitch to hit the next-generation aircraft in as many days.
ANA 698, a domestic flight bound for Tokyo's Haneda airport, was cancelled because brake parts from the rear left undercarriage needed to be replaced, said a spokesman at Yamaguchi Ube airport in western Japan.
'In the cockpit, an error message related to its brake system was displayed,' an ANA spokeswoman said. 'The exact nature and the cause of the error message is not clear yet,' she said, adding that the 98 passengers were switched to another flight for Haneda.
On Monday a Japan Airlines-operated 787 Dreamliner caught fire after landing in Boston on a flight from Tokyo. On Tuesday the same airline aborted a flight after around 40 gallons of fuel spilled onto the runway.
The Dreamliner has been touted as the great new hope for US manufacturer Boeing, which says its high-tech composite fibre body reduces weight and improves fuel efficiency. But the incidents this week are only the latest in a series of glitches for the aircraft.
In July last year test engine trouble was the subject of a probe by the US National Transportation Safety Board. On July 23, ANA said it was grounding five Dreamliners for repairs because of a defect in the Rolls-Royce engine.
ANA 698, a domestic flight bound for Tokyo's Haneda airport, was cancelled because brake parts from the rear left undercarriage needed to be replaced, said a spokesman at Yamaguchi Ube airport in western Japan.
'In the cockpit, an error message related to its brake system was displayed,' an ANA spokeswoman said. 'The exact nature and the cause of the error message is not clear yet,' she said, adding that the 98 passengers were switched to another flight for Haneda.
On Monday a Japan Airlines-operated 787 Dreamliner caught fire after landing in Boston on a flight from Tokyo. On Tuesday the same airline aborted a flight after around 40 gallons of fuel spilled onto the runway.
The Dreamliner has been touted as the great new hope for US manufacturer Boeing, which says its high-tech composite fibre body reduces weight and improves fuel efficiency. But the incidents this week are only the latest in a series of glitches for the aircraft.
In July last year test engine trouble was the subject of a probe by the US National Transportation Safety Board. On July 23, ANA said it was grounding five Dreamliners for repairs because of a defect in the Rolls-Royce engine.
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