Significant Boeing 787 Events

The following are significant events involving the aircraft model. The numbered events are those involving at least one passenger death where the aircraft flight had a direct or indirect role, and where at least one of the dead passengers was not a stowaway, hijacker, or saboteur.

7 January 2013; JAL 787-8; Boston, MA: Prior to a scheduled flight from Boston to Tokyo, a maintenance and cleaning personnel noted that the auxiliary power unit (APU) disconnected and smoke began to enter the cabin and cockpit. Shortly afterward, smoke was coming from the aft electronics bay. Aircraft rescue and firefighting (ARFF) responded and confirmed the smoke was coming from the APU battery. One firefighter sustained minor injuries.
NTSB battery fire incident report
JAL plane crashes

16 January 2013; ANA 787-8; flight 692; en route from Ube to Tokyo, Japan: The aircraft was on a scheduled domestic flight from Ube to Tokyo's Haneda airport when smoke was detected in the aircraft. The crew diverted to Takamatsu, where after landing the crew initiated an emergency evacuation. One passenger was taken to the hospital and later released. None of the seven crew members or the other 129 passengers were seriously injured. The Japan Transport Safety Board (JTSB), in conjunction with the NTSB, is conducting an investigation into the cause of the battery fire.
NTSB battery fire incident report
ANA plane crashes

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Webinar on 787 battery fire investigation

Dr. Todd Curtis of AirSafe.com hosted a 14 February 2013 webinar discussed the January 2013 grounding of the entire 787 fleet after two serious fires on a JAL and ANA 787 involving lithium ion batteries. Dr. Curtis summarized the status of the investigations by the NTSB and JTSB, and explains the process that Boeing and the airlines will go through in order to return the aircraft to service. Watch the 14 February 2013 webinar below, or on YouTube

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12 July 2013; Ethiopian Airlines 787-8; ET-AOP; flight 1354; London Heathrow Airport: While the aircraft was parked, unoccupied, and unpowered, and overheating battery associated with the emergency locator transmitter (ELT) caused a fire in the upper part of the rear fuselage. The fire severely damaged the fuselage, but did not cause any injuries or deaths. The AAIB investigation did not determine whether the overheating was caused by a release of energy within the lithium-manganese dioxide batteries, or if was due to an external mechanism like an electrical short. This particular ELT was entirely independent of the aircraft's electrical power system. This event was significant because this model of ELT is used on a wide range of aircraft, and of the roughly 6,000 units produced by the manufacturer, this event was the first recorded instant of a significant thermal event.
AAIB report on the battery fire event
Safety implications of this kind of fire
Ethiopian Airlines plane crashes

AirSafeNews.com Articles about the 787
Should passengers fear the 787? - 18 January 2013
FAA orders comprehensive review - 11 January 2013
What's wrong with the 787? - 9 January 2013

JAL and ANA battery fire investigation resources
NTSB battery fire investigation
JTSB battery fire links
Boeing 787 battery updates site

Other Boeing Models
717, 727, 737, 747, 757, 767, 777, 787

Related information
Recent plane crashes
Plane crashes by airline
Plane crashes by model
Plane crash rates by model
Wikipedia entry for 787