Two of the 787 flight test aircraft have flown back to Seattle after being stranded following last week's fire aboard a Dreamliner in Texas. One of the flight test aircraft, ZA001 (pictured above after its first flight), had been refueling in South Dakota and the other, ZA005, was based in southern California when the fire occurred aboard a third test aircraft. The Federal Aviation Administration approved the flights back to Seattle after Boeing inspected the parts of the airplane that caught fire.
The airplane maker has not commented on how the fire and subsequent halt to flight testing will affect the certification and delivery of the composite airliner. The first 787 was expected to be delivered in the first quarter of 2011, two years behind schedule. A week after the fire in an electronics panel, Boeing says it does not know when flight testing will resume. Engineers continue to investigate the conditions that led to the failure and fire.
In a statement released this week, the company did provide a few more details about the fire saying it lasted less than 30 seconds. Boeing added that the airplane, ZA002, would have been able to return to a suitable airport from any point in a typical 787 profile following the failure of the electronics panel and subsequent fire. While the company touted the safety and redundancy of the design as part of the reason the airplane was able to safely land, there were no details offered about which aspects of the safety and redundancy worked and if any did not.
Boeing workers are replacing the electronics panel and insulation on ZA002, as well as making minor repairs to the composite structure to prepare the airplane for a return flight to Seattle.
ZA002 has flown more than 558 flight test hours so far, with all six 787 aircraft logging more than 2,373 flight hours since the first flight in December of last year.
