# Boeing's 787 problems return with Dreamliner fire in London **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 12, 2013, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boeings-787-problems-return-with-dreamliner-fire-in-london/663347 "2013-07-12T19:19:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boeings-787-problems-return-with-dreamliner-fire-in-london/663347/21 "2013-07-16T13:01:25Z")
The weird thing is that those transmitters are used on all sorts of planes. The WSJ article says that they were certified in 2005. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boeings-787-problems-return-with-dreamliner-fire-in-london/663347/22 "2013-07-16T15:59:22Z")
Pretty much any battery can get hot enough to start a fire, given the right conditions. Just ask anyone who’s put a nine volt battery in their pocket, then absent-mindedly put their keys or some change in the pocket. Just because there are thousands of EPIRBs in service and none of them have gone up in flames before doesn’t guarantee that the one installed in that plane wouldn’t be The One with a bad battery pack, or have a stray screw or snippet of wire fall into the unit and short out the battery. The part that blew my mind was a description of possible repair options ranging from cutting out the damaged portions and bonding in patches, much like repairing a fiberglass boat, on up to disassembling the tail section and replacing the damaged portions with new pieces. [This was described as possibly costing more than the airplane is worth.](http://www.businessinsider.com/boeing-dreamliner-catches-fire-at-londons-heathrow-airport-2013-7) :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boeings-787-problems-return-with-dreamliner-fire-in-london/663347/23 "2013-07-16T16:05:12Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > The part that blew my mind was a description of possible repair options ranging from cutting out the damaged portions and bonding in patches, much like repairing a fiberglass boat, on up to disassembling the tail section and replacing the damaged portions with new pieces. And when the tail goes gravityward on some future flight, everyone will know that no such repairs should have been attempted. Just as they know right now but will ignore. Disposable airliners. What a concept. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boeings-787-problems-return-with-dreamliner-fire-in-london/663347/24 "2013-07-18T18:15:43Z")
It seems they have clearly decided the emergency transmitter battery as the problem: [http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/18/us-boeing-dreamliner-idUSBRE96H0XC20130718](http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/18/us-boeing-dreamliner-idUSBRE96H0XC20130718) ---
**Author:** ![pdunderhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4bbf92/32.png) [@pdunderhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pdunderhill)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boeings-787-problems-return-with-dreamliner-fire-in-london/663347/25 "2013-07-19T12:23:00Z")
I loved the irony of the CAA’s, (Civil Aviation Authority, roughly equivalent to the FAA), suggestion that a temporary fix would be to remove the emergency beacon and associated battery. Now what happens when one of the other Lithium batteries explodes catastrophicaly mid-Atlantic or in the central Sahara? No way I’ll be flying on an aircraft that still looks to be in the Beta stage of development. Peter ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boeings-787-problems-return-with-dreamliner-fire-in-london/663347/26 "2013-07-19T14:13:33Z")
> [@pdunderhill](#): > > No way I’ll be flying on an aircraft that still looks to be in the Beta stage of development. The real joke here is that the transponders and the batteries they use are pretty much old, proven technology. So in an aircraft using unproven structural and functional tech from nose to tail… they want to remove a component with a 10M hour MTBF. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boeings-787-problems-return-with-dreamliner-fire-in-london/663347.md?page=1)