My charity event for the year

ILD Bike MS: Tour de Farms 2013: Mr. William Wojtas - National MS Society

FAA Statement on 787 Battery

FAA Statement (received from an FAA.gov RSS feed)

February 22 

Deputy Transportation Secretary John Porcari, FAA Administrator Michael P. Huerta and other FAA officials met with senior executives from The Boeing Company today to discuss the status of ongoing work to address 787 battery issues. 

The FAA is reviewing a Boeing proposal and will analyze it closely. The safety of the flying public is our top priority and we won’t allow the 787 to return to commercial service until we’re confident that any proposed solution has addressed the battery failure risks. 

Really? :-)

Batteries for 787 Can’t Be Shipped on Passenger Planes - Bloomberg

Lithium-ion batteries like those under investigation in the grounding of Boeing Co.’s 787 Dreamliner shouldn’t be shipped aboard passenger planes, a United Nations aviation agency ruled today. 

View the full Bloomberg article here: 

Batteries for 787 Can’t Be Shipped on Passenger Planes - Bloomberg

Boeing 787 batteries: What's causing their 'thermal runaways?' - CSMonitor.com

The Boeing 787 batteries may have overheated due to a structural flaw that prevented adequate ventilation. The ongoing investigation could keep the Boeing 787 grounded for weeks or months.

Read the full story as written by the Christian Science Monitor: 

Boeing 787 batteries: What's causing their 'thermal runaways?' - CSMonitor.com

It makes sense, I know these batteries are susceptible to heat.  It only figures that these larger batteries wouldn't have the same concerns as the smaller batteries.  The only difference is that the smaller batteries are more easily cooled since they are "out and about" rather than sitting in a stuffy avionics bay.  Not very scientific, I know, but it makes sense.

One reason why I would never have guessed this was because this is so basic, they should have thought about this issue to begin with!  I figured it had to be something interacting with the battery, not the battery itself!

This is almost as interesting as prime time TV.  I cant wait for the next episode.  To find out more .... tune in next week!

I truly hate lithium batteries, they also cause hair loss, high blood pressure and gastro problems..... :-)

Japan 787 probe finds 'thermal runaway' in battery

Japan 787 probe finds 'thermal runaway' in battery

Time for Metrics!!!

As an industry, aviation is all about the Metrics.  It is a super simple way of measurement and guess what?  The US is the ONLY ...  ONLY ... industrialized nation which is not officially on the International System of Measurement.

If you look at the map, the BLACK HOLE on the left, is the good ol' USA.  Even the UK has officially adopted the metric system.  Why are we still using the Imperial system????

Our industry all over the world has a standard and not just for DG.  Cargo in general has to be in KG for international Air Waybills.  Having to convert from pounds to kilos on a regular basis presents a risk for safety.  Miscalculations, transcription errors, Weight and Balance issues, etc. etc. etc.  How many of us have had to deal with this problem during our careers?

To top it off, the regulators in this country are also still on the imperial standard and do nothing to lobby the system to make the change, despite KNOWING that there is risk involved.  They will levy punitive civil penalties and indicate that the carrier failed to properly do the math.  Not that the cause is that the US is still using an antiquated system of measurement that no one other than BURMA still uses!!

We as an industry need to pull together to push our regulators and lawmakers to seriously take a look at this and give it some serious consideration.  Even the Hazardous Materials Regulations are riddled with references to Metrics to try to eliminate confusion.

Time to convert!

Let me know what you think!