LONDON/WARSAW: A Boeing Co Dreamliner travelling from Chicago to Poland resumed its flight yesterday after making an emergency landing at Glasgow, Scotland, to check an alert from the fire protection system in the baggage hold.
The plane, owned by Polish state airline LOT, was on the ground for about 5-1/2 hours. “After checking the aircraft, it turned out that it is functional,” said LOT spokeswoman Barbara Pijanowska-Kuras, adding that firefighters at the scene did not see any fire or smoke.
Emergency services met LOT Flight 4, which was headed to Warsaw, at 9.35am local time (1035 GMT), Glasgow’s airport said. Other traffic at the airport was not affected.
The plane was initially cleared as safe and the 248 passengers disembarked, an airport spokesman said. The passengers later reboarded and the plane took off around 1700 GMT and was due in Warsaw around 1900 GMT.
Boeing said it was aware of the flight diversion and was “working with our customer to assess the situation. At this time we have no further details.”
The diversion of the LOT flight comes just days after the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration called for parts upgrades on the Dreamliner to ensure better fire suppression in its cargo hold and an electrical equipment bay.
Any findings of technical fault would add to earlier problems experienced by the 787 Dreamliner — Boeing’s estimated $32bn bet on new technology, which entered commercial service three years ago.
The global 787 fleet was grounded from January to April last year after two lithium-ion batteries burned out in separate incidents in Japan and the United States. The main lithium battery is housed in the electrical equipment bay that was the area of the plane targeted by the FAA action, a proposed rule published on Tuesday and agreed to by Boeing.
Boeing said the FAA action did not involve the battery. The FAA called for improving foam-like plugs in the area of the battery to prevent Halon, a fire-fighting chemical, from escaping in the event of a fire. Boeing said it agreed with the plan to install the upgraded parts on about 88 aircraft, known as the 787-8, which posed no immediate safety concern.
Reuters
