MiraculousM

Hi.. so i am not well in bed and stupidly was searching on youtube for dreamliner videos and came across an old doc that Al Jazeera did before the engine problems regarding batteries and dreamliner and basically how terribly that they are built.

I have a close friend coming in March on a Dreamliner from Newark on BA and it has me very worried. I mean, you are flying over the atlantic so if something were to go wrong there isnt a nearby airport you can land in

- are the BA planes ones built by boeing in Colorado or Washington?
- considering how many problems the dreamliner has had since it has gone out to the market, how come it hasnt been pulled altogether

Im super anxious now about this flight. I see BA pull a few 787 flights regularly and that isnt helping.

eugegall

I've not heard of a 787 crashing to the ground to date.

Globaliser

Because the problems aren't serious, in the sense which you have in mind.

I can think of at least one other large airliner which would be more worthy of having its certification pulled, although fortunately no passenger variants are in service any more.

FlyerTalker39574

Can I help you

GaxxyFlyer

tldr version: don't worry.

Only slightly longer version: there were some early issues with batteries. These were a good number of years ago now, there have now been nearly 800 delivered, flying every day without issues.

You can see here all the deliveries so far, it's a significant number and if there were still problems, you definitely know about it by now!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...and_deliveries

You can also read up on the battery problems here, you can see for yourself it's not been a concern for 5 years now.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing...ttery_problems

And finally, with regards to the engines, yes there have been some issues with the rolls royce engines but they're being addressed over time and those that are flying have been thoroughly checked.

And finally finally, flying from New York, you are actually always fairly close to an airport. 90 mins or so from Iceland or Newfoundland for example.

YacozA

Your friend is much more likely to die:
At the airport
Riding an escalator in a shopping mall
Crossing the street
Taking literally any other form of transit other than Commercial Hovercraft or Shinkansen

APUBleed

windowontheAside

I've always felt safer flying an aircraft type that has recently had a safety issue. I know that the ones flying will have been checked and passed for that particular problem.

I hope you are feeling more reassured about your friend.

corporate-wage-slave

I've done hundreds of trans ocean flights on 787s, I have every intention of living forever and so far it's all going very well indeed. In all seriousness, I hope you get an opportunity to fly a 787, perhaps on an overland based route, since I'm sure you'll find it a really comfortable, great air quality, smooth and enjoyable flight. The B787, A380 and A350 are the only aircraft which allow me to work 4 hours in London, 4 hours in the office in the USA on the same day and feel completely fine about it.

The Newark to London sector is of course not directly over the ocean for that much of the trip. It generally goes to the tip of Newfoundland and over from there to Ireland (depending on wind speeds and directions). So at any stage it's actually not that far from airports in Canada, Greenland, Icelend, Ireland or the UK. And despite the thousands of 787s going over the Atlantic every year, it's rare any of them need to divert, and no more so than any other aircraft.

I'm much, much more concerned about some of London's taxi drivers frankly.

I hope you get better soon, it's all too easy to get anxious when you're feeling sub par, at least you really care about your friend, that's the positive side.

Proudelitist

If you can find a plane that has not been involved in a crash, fly on it.....oh wait...that's the dreamliner. Everyting else has had crashes, and some like the 737 and DC10 had flaws that required the airlines to refit their entire fleet. The 737 is one of the most common aircraft in the world, and has had plenty of accidents. And the Airbus A320 crashed and burned during it's media premier flight in 1988 due to a computer issue..yet, odds are if you are flying domestic somewhere you are on a 737 or A320.

Yes, the lithium batteries were an issue, but there has been no accident because of it. As a matter of fact, the Dreamliner is probably one of the safest aircraft to fly. For one thing, it's carbon fiber body means less rivets and less metal fatigue meaning less chance of a hull breach or decompression and it can do way more flight cycles before structural integrity becomes an issue. It can also take more strain and has a better performance envelope for handling unusual upsets. Due to it's efficiency it carries less fuel, which means less fire if you do crash.

SteveF

sweetsleep

I saw that documentary video from Al JaZeera (cannot recall when I saw it or in what country) and it did make me concerned about aircraft built in South Carolina versus the main factory in Washington. The rampant drug use while people were on duty was shocking as well as the poor quality of employees building the aircraft.
Is it possible to find out where various aircraft were built?
I flew on my first 787 in May, 2018 and the flight was amazing due to minimal to no turbulence and the cabin pressure making jet lag much better.
But still.
My next trip on a 787 is in March with BA.

LGWClosedAgain

787-8/9's are from Washington (The only ones BA currently use)

The -10's are only built in South Carolina but BA will not operate them until 2020.

BOH

Really? When did the A350 or A380 crash then?