787 Fire Source Identified
A malfunction in a single cell of a Japan Airlines (JAL) Boeing 787 lithium ion battery triggered the Jan. 7 fire in the airliner, which was parked at Boston Logan International Airport, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) says.
“After an exhaustive examination of the JAL lithium ion battery, which was comprised of eight individual cells, investigators determined that the majority of evidence from the flight data recorder and both thermal and mechanical damage pointed to an initiating event in a single cell,” the NTSB said.
“That cell showed multiple signs of short circuiting, leading to a thermal runaway condition, which then cascaded to other cells. Charred battery components indicated that the temperature inside the battery case exceeded 500 degrees F [260 degrees C].”
The battery fire and other similar events, including a Jan. 16 in-flight incident on an All Nippon Airways 787, prompted the U.S. Federal Aviation Adminis…
