Japan Airlines as well as All Nippon Airways, the largest users in the world of the 787 jets made by Boeing, grounded their entire fleets of the Dreamliners. This is now the largest blow to the image of the troubled passenger aircraft.
An emergency landing was made by a 787 from the All Nippon fleet in Japan after pilots received a warning of a battery fault and then smelled smoke. That prompted them to make the decision to ground the entire fleet of Dreamliners for just the first time. After that, Japan Air did the same and the two carriers will also cancel the next few days of operations for the Dreamliners.
The emergency comes a week after a Japan Airlines 787 battery caught fire in Boston on January 7. That prompted regulators from the U.S. to review the aircrafts design and its manufacturing. In 2011, the jet first entered service, which was three years later than originally scheduled. It is the world’s first airliner that has a composite plastic body and only the first plane by Boeing to use batteries that are lithium-ion.
On the news, Boeing dropped over 3.3% to $74.40 in Germany on Monday and in New York dropped nearly 2% in extended trading.
The 129 passengers were evacuated by pilots and crew when the emergency chutes opened following the emergency landing at southern Japan’s Takamatsu Airport after originally being scheduled to land in Tokyo. One passenger on the plane had to be transported to the hospital because of experiencing pain it the wrist.
