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Boeing 787 'safe', but…

January 11, 2013

Following a series of mishaps with its Dreamliner planes, Boeing has insisted its 787 passenger aircraft is safe. But it's welcomed a review of the plane's crucial system by US aviation regulators.

https://p.dw.com/p/17IFp
With Mount Rainier in the background, the first scheduled Boeing 787 airplane to depart from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport takes off Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2012 (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
Image: AP

US plane maker Boeing on Friday said it remained convinced of the safety of its 787 Dreamliner passenger aircraft.

"We remain fully confident in the design and production system," Boeing said in a statement which followed a series of recent incidents, including a crack in a cockpit window, a fire and a fuel leak.

At a press conference in Washington, the head of Boeing's Commercial Airplane Unit, Ray Connor, told reporters he was not seeing anything "exceptionally unusual" for a new plane despite the glitches in recent days.

Thorough checks ahead

Connor insisted the recent incidents had not been caused by outsourcing production or by ramping up production too quickly.

But Boeing made a point of emphasizing that it welcomed a joint review of safety issues with its 787 passenger jet.

Earlier on Friday, US aviation regulators said they'd launch a comprehensive review of the Dreamliner's critical systems, including design, manufacture and assembly, adding that a special focus would be put on the jet's electrical components. But Michael Hurta of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) hastened to note that so far nothing in the data the agency had seen suggested the plane wasn't safe.

hg/dr (AP, Reuters)