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Boeing Has a Bad Week

Air Safety Week, Jan 21, 2008

Boeing, which last week suffered a plunging share price as the result of further delays in its 787 Dreamliner program, will nervously await the outcome of the crash investigation involving British Airways Flight 38 at London Heathrow Airport and the probe of the mid-air power outage regarding Qantas Flight QF2l, both involving Boeing jetliners.

BA Flight 38, a twin-engined Boeing 777-236ER arriving from Beijing with 136 passengers and 16 crewmembers aboard, landed short of Runway 27 at Heathrow International on Jan. 17, suffering extensive damage as it skidded hundreds of meters on grass. Six passengers suffered minor injuries in the first serious accident involving the 777 since the plane first went into production in 1996.

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The UK Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) is leading the inquiry into the crash landing. The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is assisting, along with investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Boeing.

The pilot-in-command of Flight 38 reportedly told the AAIB that he lost all power on final approach. The probe will include examination of the aircraft's flight data and cockpit voice recorders. Theories about the crash landing include mechanical or electrical failure, bird strikes or severe turbulence. British Airways owns 43 Boeing 777s.

The Boeing 777-236ER crash comes ten days after a Qantas Boeing 747-400 lost main power on its descent into Bangkok, Thailand on Jan. 7 and was forced to land on battery backup. There were no injuries and no damage to the jumbo jet.

Flight QF2 with 344 passengers on board was about 15 minutes from Bangkok when the highly unusual failure occurred. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) and Qantas said that the primary power loss was the result of faulty drainage in the first-class galley, which resulted in water entering the generator control unit. Water from the blocked drain collected in a drip tray under the floor. A crack in the try allowed the water to leak into electrical wiring, shorting out the aircraft's primary power supply. Qantas completed a fleet-wide check without finding similar cracks.

As of mid-January, Boeing had not alerted other Boeing 747s operators of the potential problem. A Boeing spokesman said the aircraft maker was undertaking its own probe into the Qantas power loss incident to understand exactly what happened.

In the interim, Qantas is investigating ways to better protect the plane from leaks. ATSB's Julian Walsh, deputy director of aviation safety investigation, is quoted as saying that "lessons could be learned from the incident."

Government Industry

Boeing Has a Bad Week

Air Safety Week, Jan 21, 2008

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