Even as accident investigators pushed to find the cause of a January fire in the battery system of a Japan Airlines Boeing 787, the entire fleet of 787s — equipped with new lithium-ion battery systems — began returning to service after a three-month grounding.
The modified battery systems were required under an airworthiness directive (AD) issued by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in late April. The AD mandates the replacement of the main battery, the auxiliary power unit (APU) battery and their chargers, and the installation of main and APU battery enclosures (see “787 Batteries”). The FAA directive applies only to U.S. operators of 787s, but other civil aviation authorities worldwide have issued similar orders to operators of 787s under their jurisdictions.
787 Batteries
The original main battery in the Boeing 787 and the auxiliary power unit batte…
