United 787 Loses Speed and Lands Early

[Gerald]

A new Boeing 787 Dreamliner flown by United Airlines was diverted in midflight to New Orleans on Tuesday because of concern about a possible mechanical problem.

The plane was headed to Newark from Houston when it descended over a 10-minute span to 31,000 feet from 41,000 feet and slowed to 480 miles an hour from 655, according to
http://flightaware.com/ a data provider.The plane, which carried 174 passengers and 10 crew members, then rapidly recovered its speed and turned sharply to the south over Mississippi, according to the Web site’s flight log.

After the incident, United, the first North American carrier to fly the new planes, was examining one of the jet’s generators, units that provide electrical power to the plane’s engines, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.

United and Boeing both said it was too early to determine the cause of the incident.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/05/business/united-787-loses-power-and-lands-early.html?_r=0

A Dreamliner!


Note: December 4, 2012

[GoldenRivet]

these things will happen with a new fleet type.

the famed and fairly successful Lockheed L-188 Electra developed the nasty habit of in flight disintegration early in its long career.

The more tech between the yoke and the control surface we put into these things, i think one should expect to see anything from minor hiccups to major failures.

[Gerald]

Now it was good that nothing happened, and all were unharmed,:)

[Cybermat47]

Ooh, shiny new plane, me likey!

Thank God no-one was hurt.

[Jimbuna]

these things will happen with a new fleet type.

the famed and fairly successful Lockheed L-188 Electra developed the nasty habit of in flight disintegration early in its long career.

The more tech between the yoke and the control surface we put into these things, i think one should expect to see anything from minor hiccups to major failures.

So my moral will be in future...don't fly in new fleet types.

[GoldenRivet]

At least initially.

I don't see that a bunch of 787s are going to start falling out of the sky, but these planes are like a good video game - beta tested like mad but when you put them in the hands of the players bugs and glitches get found.

I think the 787 is a pretty safe bet though

[Herr-Berbunch]

Paradoxically, if it had flown faster it would also have landed earlier. :03:

Teething issues, look at the RR equiped A-380s.

GR - you had 'whirl mode', we had riveted square windows with our Comet.

[GoldenRivet]

Paradoxically, if it had flown faster it would also have landed earlier. :03:

Teething issues, look at the RR equiped A-380s.

GR - you had 'whirl mode', we had riveted square windows with our Comet.

Ah good times

Talk about two WTF moments in aviation history.

[mookiemookie]

At least initially.

I don't see that a bunch of 787s are going to start falling out of the sky, but these planes are like a good video game - beta tested like mad but when you put them in the hands of the players bugs and glitches get found.

I think the 787 is a pretty safe bet though

Remind me to travel by boat if Ubi ever gets into the airliner business.

[GoldenRivet]

Remind me to travel by boat if Ubi ever gets into the airliner business.

Ha!

Welcome aboard the ubi-liner, you must maintain a constant Internet connection or the engines turn off. The first officer gets stuck in a sound loop repeating "gear up, gear up, gear up", if you have more than three ounces of liquids or gels the eyes of the crew bug out, sometimes when you taxi and take off the fuel truck stays attached depending on the weather, and ATCs only instructions are "be more aggressive"

oh and dont forget the little yellow, green, or red triangles on all the instruments.

[gimpy117]

these things will happen with a new fleet type.



yes and no, generators and/or starter generators are pretty well tested and bug free appliances on Aircraft. I would Say GE just sent out a bad voltage maker there. so whoever made it is probably checking records and seeing of other ones from that batch could be effected

[GoldenRivet]

I've had more starter gen problems than I care to think about, of course it seems always on the homeward bound leg on the last flight of the last day if a 5 day trip.

[Skybird]

I vaguely remember a news message from maybe 2 weeks ago that Boeing has general trouble with the 787's engines, and that all planes built so far need inspections and probably repairs or replacements. Back then I wondered why this news did not cause a bigger echo, most newspapers ignored it, it seems.

[Herr-Berbunch]

I've had more starter gen problems than I care to think about, of course it seems always on the homeward bound leg on the last flight of the last day if a 5 day trip.

In the RAF the aircraft never fail to depart the UK, they never fail to depart places like Afghanistan, Kosovo, Falklands or Saudi. They do, however, fail to depart from Bahrain, Ascension, Tenerife (even though one of the aircrew always gets mugged!), Gan, and anywhere else hot and sunny with a bar that serves alcohol. If they are somewhere unpleasant they make it to the nearest nice place. Taxpayers funding it though, surely different in the commercial setting.

[Herr-Berbunch]

It also just dawned on me that it may have been RR engines in this too but I've just checked and all United engines are GE.

Phew, RR really wouldn't have wanted that on top of the 380 debacle. :o