FAA grounds 787s
#16
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 9,223
Latest news about permission to conduct 787 tests:
The test flights will be subject to a number of restrictions, the Federal Aviation Administration said today, including limiting the flights to specific airspace over unpopulated areas. Other conditions include preflight testing and inspections, and in-flight monitoring.
FAA approves Boeing test flights of grounded 787 Dreamliner
That's kind of scary.
The FAA also allowed Boeing to ferry a 787 from Fort Worth back to the factory after it had been painted.
The test flights will be subject to a number of restrictions, the Federal Aviation Administration said today, including limiting the flights to specific airspace over unpopulated areas. Other conditions include preflight testing and inspections, and in-flight monitoring.
FAA approves Boeing test flights of grounded 787 Dreamliner
That's kind of scary.
The FAA also allowed Boeing to ferry a 787 from Fort Worth back to the factory after it had been painted.
#17
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 11,439
Latest news about permission to conduct 787 tests:
The test flights will be subject to a number of restrictions, the Federal Aviation Administration said today, including limiting the flights to specific airspace over unpopulated areas. Other conditions include preflight testing and inspections, and in-flight monitoring.
FAA approves Boeing test flights of grounded 787 Dreamliner
That's kind of scary.
The FAA also allowed Boeing to ferry a 787 from Fort Worth back to the factory after it had been painted.
The test flights will be subject to a number of restrictions, the Federal Aviation Administration said today, including limiting the flights to specific airspace over unpopulated areas. Other conditions include preflight testing and inspections, and in-flight monitoring.
FAA approves Boeing test flights of grounded 787 Dreamliner
That's kind of scary.
The FAA also allowed Boeing to ferry a 787 from Fort Worth back to the factory after it had been painted.
#19
Join Date: Apr 2010
Programs: HGP/SPG: Apprentice Kettle; UA/AA/DL: Journeyman Kettle
Posts: 866
I don't find it scary. It appears to be a prudent precaution. Even though the plane has not yet lost its certification there is still an issue that needs to be identified and addressed. Why fly the airplane over a populated area when it is not necessary to do so?
#20
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: BNA
Programs: HH Gold. (Former) UA PP, DL PM, PC Plat
Posts: 8,140
14CFR91.319(c) Unless otherwise authorized by the Administrator in special operating limitations, no person may operate an aircraft that has an experimental certificate over a densely populated area or in a congested airway.
All this shows is that the FAA is treating the B787 as an experimental aircraft for the purposes of these flight tests.
#21
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 11,439
You are reading something into that that is not there. If the airplane was unsafe it would not be allowed to fly, period. And if it was unsafe no pilot worth their salt would fly it.
#22
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 9,223
It caught my attention because of the non-standard wording. Normally the regulations say that test flights should be over sparsely populated areas and/or avoid densely populated areas.
I'm afraid that to say "specific airspace over unpopulated areas" and have that odd phrase repeated in hundreds of news stories around the world will make it just that much harder for people to have confidence not only in he 787 but in the FAA who certified it.
(The only other references I could find about requiring tests over unpopulated areas were for unmanned drones and space vehicles.)
I'm afraid that to say "specific airspace over unpopulated areas" and have that odd phrase repeated in hundreds of news stories around the world will make it just that much harder for people to have confidence not only in he 787 but in the FAA who certified it.
(The only other references I could find about requiring tests over unpopulated areas were for unmanned drones and space vehicles.)
#23
Join Date: Apr 2010
Programs: HGP/SPG: Apprentice Kettle; UA/AA/DL: Journeyman Kettle
Posts: 866
It caught my attention because of the non-standard wording. Normally the regulations say that test flights should be over sparsely populated areas and/or avoid densely populated areas.
I'm afraid that to say "specific airspace over unpopulated areas" and have that odd phrase repeated in hundreds of news stories around the world will make it just that much harder for people to have confidence not only in he 787 but in the FAA who certified it.
(The only other references I could find about requiring tests over unpopulated areas were for unmanned drones and space vehicles.)
I'm afraid that to say "specific airspace over unpopulated areas" and have that odd phrase repeated in hundreds of news stories around the world will make it just that much harder for people to have confidence not only in he 787 but in the FAA who certified it.
(The only other references I could find about requiring tests over unpopulated areas were for unmanned drones and space vehicles.)
But just as people returned to flying after every major incident/series of incidents so too will the traveling public and businesses return to flying with nary a thought with respect to confidence in the certification of the plane or the FAA as certifier.
#24
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Port Moody, BC
Posts: 484
#26
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: New York and Vienna
Programs: PA WorldPass Platinum, AA, DL, LH. GHA Black, SPG and HHonors Gold
Posts: 3,870
#27
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Louisville, KY, US
Programs: QF Plat - OW EMD | DL Gold / Starwood Gold
Posts: 6,106
Will the Boeing 787 Dreamliner Fly by May?
SDF
#28
Join Date: May 2006
Location: BOS and ...
Programs: UA 2MM, DL 500k, AA 500k, Hyatt GP 1M, HH Gold, Rad. Gold, CP Gold, Miracle Fruit-su Club
Posts: 9,950
#30
Join Date: Jul 2007
Programs: QFF
Posts: 5,304