Boeing 787 grounded for engine problems

TOKYO - Agence France-Presse

Japan’s All Nippon Airways (ANA), the single biggest operator of Boeing’s flagship 787, said it grounded a Dreamliner due to engine problems. AFP photo

Japan’s All Nippon Airways (ANA), the single biggest operator of Boeing’s flagship 787, said it grounded a Dreamliner due to engine problems.

Engine trouble grounded a Dreamliner in Japan yesterday, its operator said, marking the third straight day of problems for Boeing’s next generation plane after months of difficulties.

While none of the recent issues was thought to be serious, they spell more misery for Boeing, whose flagship plane has been beset with delays and failures, most gravely a battery problem that kept the global fleet out of the sky.

In the latest incident, one engine on a 787 would not start after 141 passengers had boarded the All Nippon Airways (ANA) plane in Yamaguchi prefecture in western Japan, bound for Tokyo.

A company spokeswoman said the pilot had called off the flight after being warned of the problem by cockpit instruments, adding the cause of the malfunction was being investigated.

The glitch came a day after a Singapore-bound Dreamliner, operated by ANA’s rival Japan Airlines (JAL), had to turn back mid-flight because of a problem with the anti-icing system.

On June 10, ANA had to cancel a Tokyo-bound flight while the plane was at an airport in Fukuoka, western Japan, after instruments showed the left engine was not functioning properly.