Officials examine an All Nippon Airways 787 that landed at Takamatsu airport in Takamatsu, western Japan, on the day before after leaking electrolyte from a main battery located in an electrical room below the cockpit, Thursday, Jan. 17, 2013. Japan's two biggest airlines and the U.S. aviation agency grounded more than half the Boeing 787s in use around the world after the emergency landing of one of the jets exposed a battery fire risk in the technologically advanced aircraft. (AP Photo/Kyodo News) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT, NO LICENSING IN CHINA, HONG KONG, JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA AND FRANCE
Official: Battery in 787 swollen from overheating
Officials examine an All Nippon Airways 787 that landed at Takamatsu airport in Takamatsu, western Japan, on the day before after leaking electrolyte from a main battery located in an electrical room below the cockpit, Thursday, Jan. 17, 2013. Japan's two biggest airlines and the U.S. aviation agency grounded more than half the Boeing 787s in use around the world after the emergency landing of one of the jets exposed a battery fire risk in the technologically advanced aircraft. (AP Photo/Kyodo News) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT, NO LICENSING IN CHINA, HONG KONG, JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA AND FRANCE
By ELAINE KURTENBACH
AP Business Writer /
January 17, 2013
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Japan’s transport ministry categorized Wednesday’s problem as a ‘‘serious incident’’ that could have led to an accident.
The ministry had already started a separate inspection Monday of a 787 operated by Japan Airlines that had leaked fuel in Tokyo and Boston, where the flight originated.
In a Jan. 7 incident, a fire ignited in the battery pack of an auxiliary power unit of an empty Japan Airlines 787 on the tarmac in Boston. It took firefighters 40 minutes to put out the blaze.
A computer problem, a minor fuel leak and a cracked windscreen in a cockpit were also reported on a 787 in Japan this month.
Boeing has said that various technical problems are to be expected in the early days of any aircraft model.
Much remains uncertain about the problems being experienced by the 787, said Masaharu Hirokane, analyst at Nomura Securities Co. in Tokyo.
‘‘You need to ensure safety 100 percent, and then you also have to get people to feel that the jet is 100 percent safe,’’ Hirokane said.
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AP Business Writer Kelvin Chan in Hong Kong and Associated Press writers Joan Lowy in Washington and Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.
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