The Dreamliner’s latest in-flight emergency might be its scariest yet

[n2doc]

By Heather Timmons

An Air India flight from Melbourne to Delhi was diverted to Kuala Lumpur on Feb. 5, after after all three of the jet’s navigation computers failed at the same time.
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“The cockpit software system went blank,” IBN Live, an Indian television station, reported. “The flight landed without any navigation aid.” The failures took place in “three flight management computers that control navigation and allow a plane to fly long distances on auto pilot,” according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
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The flight landed safely, but more than 230 passengers and crew were stranded in Kuala Lumpur until mechanics who could fix the plane arrived from Hong Kong. “We are aware of the in-service incident and are working with Air India to provide support,” a Boeing spokesman said in an e-mail to Quartz.
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Boeing’s Dreamliner aircraft has suffered a series of problems since it was introduced, most notoriously with its highly-flammable battery, and the Air India fleet has been particularly trouble-prone. The planes has 136 “minor technical snags” between September, 2012 and November, 2013, according to India’s civil aviation minister. The Dreamliner involved in the diverted flight from Melbourne has been particularly affected: the plane’s windshield cracked while it was landing on two separate previous occasions, and its landing gear door was seriously damaged.

http://qz.com/174406/the-dreamliners-latest-in-flight-emergency-might-be-its-scariest-yet/

[enlightenment]

1. Obviously, that shouldn't have happened, but

I'm not sure how "scary" it is unless the airline doesn't bother having trained pilots on the flightdeck. Presumably, pilots rated to fly the plane would know how to fly it without auto-pilot.

I'm more concerned with the structural issues. Pilots can fly without navigational aids (they should be able to, anyway), but it's a bit harder to fly a plane that has pieces catching fire, cracking, or otherwise impinging on the structural integrity of the aircraft.

[ret5hd]

2. Maybe they shouldn't have put this button there:

[RC]

3. When your only "land marks" are the horizon and the water below, navigation computers come in handy.

[enlightenment]

4. I'm not denying that -

but it's not impossible to fly without them. Seems to me that pilots successfully flew without them - even over water - for many years.

[RC]

6. Does that technology even exist anymore?

Long range radio beacons and such?
Now everything is satellite and GPS. How would that work if you don't have any navigation computers to decipher the data?

[enlightenment]

11. I don't know.

I think they only operated over land routes in WWII but people still managed to fly over oceans using dead reckoning. They did have "weather ships" stationed near air routes, but I don't know if they transmitted navigational data. My dad (a navigator during the war) said he used maps, compass headings and his hand-held (manual) flight computer. Since I'm here, I assume that process worked.

RC, I'm not saying that the computers are a bad or useless tool. All I'm saying is that pilots should be able to fly and land an aircraft without those aids.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

5. Agree. Fire scares me the most.

[belcffub]

7. ctrl-alt-del planes

My friend is a corporate pilot and he calls them ctrl-alt-del planes... He says he has to reboot them while flying from time to time... but never said he was not able to get them to reboot...

[Fumesucker]

8. Lends a whole new meaning to BSOD n/t

[Blue_Tires]

9. Sensationalist headline aside, he's some more info:

http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/general_aviation/read.main/5988118/

http://avherald.com/h?article=46f971be&opt=0

[solarhydrocan]

10. looks like it's not an isolated incident

Dreamliner computer glitch forces Polish airline to switch jets
Reuters February 4, 2014 6:21 AM

WARSAW (Reuters) - A computer malfunction on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner forced LOT to call off a transatlantic flight from Warsaw late on Monday and switch the passengers onto another jet instead, the Polish airline said.

The glitch, the latest in a series of operational problems that have dogged the Dreamliner, caused the passengers' departure for Toronto, Canada, to be delayed by a few hours.

"We had to restart the on-board computer just before take-off," broadcaster TVN24 quoted a LOT spokeswoman as saying.

"Since such a restart and a consequent check-up of all systems takes a few hours (...) we changed the plane."

http://news.yahoo.com/poland-39-lot-aborts-dreamliner-flight-computer-malfunction-070120726--sector.html

Edit: This plus the battery problems. If I was booked on this aircraft I'd call in sick

[Purrfessor]

12. Boeing Dreamliner To Be Renamed Screamliner After A Series Of In-Flight Technical Failures...eom