Fire Breaks Out on Parked JAL 787

There are reports this morning of a fire in the belly of an empty 787 at Boston Logan Airport this morning.

That’s not great news for the greatest new plane of our generation. There have been plenty of setbacks, as well as some rumors that said, specifically, the FAA is one “major fire” away from grounding the 787. I have no idea if that’s true, completely unsubstantiated at this point. It’s also unclear if today’s incident would be categorized as a “major incident”.
I was lucky enough to be on the inaugural BOS-NRT JAL 787 flight, so it’s perfectly likely this was the plane I flew. I’m still 100% behind the 787, and look forward to another ride (hopefully sooner than later).

I’ll keep an eye out for updates on this story.

UPDATE: Reports are the fire was in an avionics bay.

HT: Gary

22 Comments

    1. I just checked my photos and it looks like our BOS-NRT flight was on JA822J which looks to be in Tokyo right now. I took JA825J back from NRT to BOS and it is on its way to San Diego right now.

  1. I’m sure this was totally a fluke and not a blanket concern for all 787’s. The airline industry could not afford to use a jest that was so dangerous it kept killing their customers. It’s bad for sales. It may not have even been the plane – it could have been started by a passenger’s luggage in the belly of the plane

  2. The media focus on teething problems — whether A380 or B787 — is probably giving the general public a misleading idea about the relative reliability of these new jets compared with past introductions.

    1. PH, I agree. I haven’t seen anything terribly alarming so far that differs much historically from what is to be expected in a new aircraft, let alone one as dramatically different from the ones that came before it. I’m still ready to hop onboard!

      Regards, Edward Pizzarello

  3. Well, as long as you’re behind the 787… (rolleyes). Obviously whether you are behind it or not is completely irrelevant. Safety is key.

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