February 15, 2013 - Airbus is confident that the
lithium ion (Li-ion) main battery architecture
it has been developing with Saft and qualifying
for the A350 XWB aircraft is robust and safe.
The A350 XWB flight test program will continue
as planned with the qualified Li-ion main
batteries.
On 16th of January All Nippon Airways
Flight NH-692, en route from Ube to Tokyo Haneda,
had received indications of battery problems,
followed by a burning smell while climbing from
Ube, about 35 nautical miles west of Takamatsu,
Japan. The pilots decided to divert to
Takamatsu, where the plane landed, vacated the
runway, and was evacuated via slides.
Inspection of the battery compartment revealed
that they had suffered a battery fire. This,
along with a very similar incident of a parked
Japan Airlines 787 in Boston that also had a
battery fire within the same week, led the
Federal Aviation Administration to ground all
Boeing 787s that were flying at the time.
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