787’s battery miswired, Japanese find

FILE - In this Jan. 17, 2013 file photo, officials examine an All Nippon Airways 787 a day after it made an emergency landing at Takamatsu airport in Takamatsu, western Japan.  A probe into the overheating of a lithium ion battery in the All Nippon Airways Boeing 787 found it was improperly wired, Japan's Transport Ministry said Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013.  (AP Photo/Kyodo News)  JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT, NO LICENSING IN CHINA, HONG KONG, JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA AND FRANCE
FILE - In this Jan. 17, 2013 file photo, officials examine an All Nippon Airways 787 a day after it made an emergency landing at Takamatsu airport in Takamatsu, western Japan. A probe into the overheating of a lithium ion battery in the All Nippon Airways Boeing 787 found it was improperly wired, Japan's Transport Ministry said Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013. (AP Photo/Kyodo News) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT, NO LICENSING IN CHINA, HONG KONG, JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA AND FRANCE

— An investigation into the overheating of a lithium-ion battery in an All Nippon Airways Boeing 787 that made an emergency landing found it was improperly wired, Japan’s Transport Ministry said Wednesday.

The Transport Safety Board said in a report that the battery for the aircraft’s auxiliary power unit was incorrectly connected to the main battery that overheated, although a protective valve would have prevented power from the auxiliary unit from causing damage.

Flickering of the plane’s tail and wing lights after it landed and the fact the main battery was switched off led the investigators to conclude there was an abnormal current traveling from the auxiliary power unit because of mis-wiring.

The agency said more analysis was needed to determine what caused the main battery to overheat and emit the smoke that prompted the Jan. 16 emergency landing of the All Nippon Airways domestic flight and the worldwide grounding of Boeing 787 jets. It said it is consulting Boeing about the issue.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and aviation authorities in other countries grounded 787 fleets because of the episode, which followed a battery fire earlier in January in a 787 parked in Boston.

The 787, dubbed the Dreamliner by Boeing, is the first airliner to make extensive use of lithium-ion batteries, which are lighter, charge faster and contain more energy than conventional batteries similar in size. However, the batteries also are more prone to overheating and catching fire.

Boeing Co. engineers and technical workers split their votes over a new contract, potentially averting a dispute that threatened to disrupt efforts to fix the battery faults that grounded the Dreamliner fleet.

Engineers approved a four year contract Tuesday while technical workers, who act as their liaison with machinists, rejected the deal and authorized a strike at any time, according to the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace. The union said it will first resume negotiations with the plane maker.

The divided results show labor peace remains elusive even as Chicago-based Boeing counts on its work force to help get the Dreamliner flying again.

“The techs are constructing the containment vessel around the battery that they’re trying to get the FAA to buy off on,” engineers union Executive Director Ray Goforth said in an interview after the voting. “If the techs go out on strike, it would stop all production of commercial aircraft.”

Boeing’s contract offer was ratified by engineers with 54 percent of the vote, the union said, while the accord wasturned down by 53 percent of the technical workers. Those employees authorized a strike with 64 percent of the vote.

The 15,550 engineers and 7,400 technical workers, mainly at Boeing’s Seattle-area manufacturing and development hub, had been working without a contract since November. They’re pivotal to Boeing’s efforts to fix the 787 and increase jet production to a record this year.

Boeing is “deeply disappointed” that technical employees rejected the company’s offer and authorized a strike, the company said in a statement.

Information for this article was contributed by The Associated Press and by Susanna Ray of Bloomberg News.

Business, Pages 23 on 02/21/2013

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