Friday, January 18, 2013

FAA Relied on Boeing-Generated Battery Data

 

Updated January 18, 2013, 3:11 a.m. ET

By ANDY PASZTOR and JON OSTROWER

The Wall Street Journal


In approving Boeing Co.'s 787 Deamliner to start carrying passengers in 2011, the Federal Aviation Administration relied extensively on data generated by Boeing that indicated the plane's advanced lithium-ion battery systems—never used before on a big jetliner—featured redundant safeguards that were essentially foolproof.

Such reliance on manufacturers in certifying new planes is the standard approach for the agency, which today oversees the safest airline fleet in history. But barely days after vouching for the jet's safety, the FAA's about-face is focusing renewed attention on how cutting-edge aircraft are brought into service.

The agency decided Wednesday to halt Dreamliner flights in the U.S. after two major battery malfunctions aboard the aircraft, and regulators around the world quickly followed its lead, essentially grounding all 50 Dreamliners now in airlines' fleets.

The aircraft-approval process has long been a give-and-take between manufacturer and regulator, with the two sides collaborating and sharing information. Compared with the industry, the FAA has neither the budget nor the expertise to do extensive testing on its own. Instead, it often designates company teams to do the bulk of the work, with FAA participation and oversight.

FAA officials approved the Dreamliner's battery technology based on such an arrangement and, according to people familiar with the matter, ended up largely accepting the technical and engineering analyses submitted by the Chicago-based plane maker and its supplier partners. Ultimately, Boeing itself effectively had the lead in certifying the safety and reliability of the batteries.

The FAA Wednesday grounded all flights of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner after two major battery malfunctions on its flagship jets. WSJ's Jon Ostrower and Former U.S. DOT Inspector General Mary Schiavo discuss on the News Hub. Photo: Getty Images.

During 200,000 hours of testing on the ground and in the air before the 787 was certified by the FAA in summer 2011, battery-safety issues apparently didn't prompt a significant re-evaluation by senior FAA officials, these people said. The initial 2007 decision to authorize use of the novel battery systems didn't change, though outside safety experts now say the FAA should have been more aggressive in its scrutiny.

The difference with the Dreamliner, according to government and industry officials, is that Boeing was in basically uncharted territory in developing the rechargeable-battery systems.

"The biggest question out there," according to Kitty Higgins, a former member of the National Transportation Safety Board, "is whether the FAA's certification systems and processes are where they need to be for this new world."

A spokeswoman for the FAA said it routinely "grants authority to an organization with demonstrated qualifications and technical expertise to perform approved certification functions on behalf of the agency," adding that testing plans and personnel must be preapproved by regulators. "We provide rigorous oversight," she said, and the FAA "will revoke the authority" if there is any evidence the system is compromised.

"We are confident in the regulatory process that has been applied to the 787 since its design inception," said Boeing spokesman Marc Birtel. "With this airplane, the FAA conducted its most robust certification process ever."

Investors have reacted to Boeing's problems warily, but not with panic. On Thursday, its shares were up 1.2% at $75.26 in 4 p.m. trading on the New York Stock Exchange, after falling more than 3% Wednesday ahead of the FAA's announcement that it was suspending Dreamliner flights. The stock has dropped 3.1% since an auxiliary-power battery aboard a parked Dreamliner operated by Japan Airlines Co. 9201.TO -0.95% caught fire on Jan. 7, triggering widespread concern.

"Any investor that totally overlooks this would be irrational. I think you have to look at the scope of it," says Greg Houser, chief investment officer at Chinook Capital Management LLC, which owns Boeing shares. Mr. Houser said that if the issue is localized to the battery, "then the faster it will be rectified."

If the FAA clears the aircraft to begin flying again soon with a simple modification, any damage to Boeing could be limited to its reputation. If the delay runs longer, it could disrupt Boeing's carefully choreographed increase in production aimed at doubling its output of Dreamliners to 10 a month by the end of the year—a timetable that analysts already had said was ambitious. If resolving the problems permanently requires Boeing to significantly redesign the 787's advanced electrical system, that could also cause delays.

The main risk for Boeing ahead of any potential design changes, said David Strauss, aerospace analyst at UBS Research, is that jets pile up awaiting delivery, potentially hurting the company's cash flow.

The FAA's move to ground 787s also could affect production if Boeing isn't able to get the FAA's approval to test-fly undelivered Dreamliners. Boeing 's Mr. Birtel said the company is in discussions with the agency seeking clearance to fly undelivered 787s on production test flights—which need to be done before an aircraft is delivered, and could cause a bottleneck to getting new Dreamliners into customer hands.

For now, Boeing and the FAA are working on interim operational and maintenance changes aimed at allowing airlines to get their 787s quickly back into service. If final FAA approval comes as easily as some industry and government officials hope, most of the grounded planes could resume flying by early next week.

Steps under discussion include changing pre-takeoff checklists requiring pilots to verify that battery systems are operating normally, according to government and industry officials knowledgeable about the details. Other interim safety measures proposed by Boeing, these officials said, include enhanced in-flight checks of battery health, as well as ground inspections that would consist of manually removing both of the 63-pound batteries from the aircraft to ensure they aren't leaking or damaged.

Made out of lightweight carbon-fiber composites, the Dreamliner relies more heavily on electrical systems than previous generations of jetliners, for everything from cabin pressurization to brakes.

Regulators increasingly depend on manufacturers to provide design and engineering justifications in the approval process required before any new aircraft enters service. The procedure typically assumes industry has the requisite expertise to take the lead. The FAA, given its limited resources, works cooperatively with manufacturers and relies on them to provide federal decision makers with appropriate, accurate data.

As a result, approvals for many routine aircraft systems effectively are delegated to manufacturers, with FAA officials basically reviewing those efforts. Ultimately, formal sign-off for the entire plane comes from the FAA.

"This is the standard way to certify aircraft," according to Robert Francis, former vice chairman of the NTSB. And the process has been effective over the years, making the FAA and U.S. airlines global leaders in devising ways to track incidents and in-service safety problems, in order to verify that the original design assumptions were correct.

Regulators recognized early that the Dreamliner's rechargeable lithium-ion batteries presented new and special potential hazards. The officials and Boeing understood that mitigating those dangers posed broad technical and policy questions.

The FAA and Boeing spent years developing special protections in case the batteries, their chargers or associated wiring went haywire. The mandated safeguards included hardware and software able to automatically disconnect batteries from the onboard electrical grid in case of unexpected problems; and additional protections to prevent overheating or overcharging even if the automatic-disconnect system failed.

In hindsight, Mr. Francis said in an interview, senior FAA officials should have decided " 'there's a lot we don't know yet about this technology,' " and "they should have done something differently."

Through a spokesman, Marion Blakey, who ran the FAA while nearly all of the battery-certification work was done, declined to comment. She is now chief executive of the Aerospace Industries Association, a trade and lobbying organization.

A spokesman for Thales SA, which supplied the integrated battery systems, declined to comment

The FAA grounded the Dreamliner after a malfunction Wednesday on an All Nippon Airways Co. 787 burned portion of the plane's main battery, its wiring and two circuit boards, prompting an emergency landing and evacuation. That came just over a week after the fire on the Japan Airlines 787 while it was parked at a gate in Boston, which melted the bolts attaching the auxiliary battery to an equipment rack.

Even last Friday, when the FAA launched a comprehensive review of 787's design and manufacturing, FAA chief Michael Huerta reassured passengers by saying "we are confident about the safety" of the jet. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said "I would have absolutely no reservation in boarding one of these planes."

Some safety experts predict fallout from the 787 grounding will roil FAA headquarters and spark major changes among its far-flung offices, much as in previous decades when the agency changed course following lengthy controversies over the safety of low-fare airlines and Boeing 737 rudders.

As in those earlier controversies, arguments over the adequacy of the FAA's 787 oversight are bound to persist. On Capitol Hill, some lawmakers already are preparing to hold hearings. And the NTSB, which has assembled industry-government teams to investigate both battery-fire incidents, is expected to delve into certification issues.

Boeing and FAA may be forced to consider potential longer-term solution that include installing extra shielding or a different design for the compartments that hold the powerful Dreamliner batteries, according to some safety experts.

The FAA also is likely to look at manufacturing quality controls for the systems. The urgency of protecting the plane from smoldering or burning power packs is heightened by the fact that the batteries can't simply be left disconnected until necessary fixes are made. That's because the 787's main lithium battery serves as the primary source of electricity for some key systems when the jetliner is flying.

Beyond the Dreamliner, the impending debate over certification and batteries could have a big impact on other aircraft. Some Gulfstream business jets, for example, have FAA approval to use onboard lithium-ion batteries in a different way than the 787. After a fire last year, the FAA separately issued an emergency directive ordering lithium ion batteries removed from more than 40 Cessna aircraft.


Source:   http://online.wsj.com

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