Fire Forces Dreamliner to Land

Boeing grounds entire 787 test fleet
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 10, 2010 8:53 AM CST
Fire Forces Dreamliner to Land
In this Dec. 15, 2009 file photograph, a Boeing Co. 787 airplane comes in for a landing at Boeing Field in Seattle after making its inaugural test flight.   (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, file)

Is the Boeing 787 cursed? Boeing today announced that it will ground its entire test fleet of the long-delayed Dreamliner, after a fire forced one to make an emergency landing yesterday. The plane was making its final approach to Laredo, Texas, when the crew reported smoke in the cabin, possibly from the rear electronics bay, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The 42-member crew wound up evacuating via the jet’s emergency slides, as ground crews rushed in to extinguish the flames. “Until we understand the event, we’re not going to schedule any new flights,” a Boeing spokeswoman told CNN. The problem may have been with the electronics, or it might have involved its Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines, which have encountered a series of problems both in test flights, and in Rolls-Royce’s testing facilities. (Rolls-Royce has been having a tough couple of days; click here for more.)

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