TOKYO – All Boeing 787 planes in Japan are being grounded for safety checks in the latest blow for the new passenger jet, the country's transport ministry said Wednesday.
One of the 787s operated by All Nippon Airways made an emergency landing Wednesday in western Japan after a cockpit message showed battery problems -- the latest in a series of problems including a battery fire and fuel leaks. No one has been seriously injured.
The ministry said it got notices from ANA, which operates 17 of the jets, and Japan Airlines which has seven, that all their 787 "Dreamliner"aircraft will not be flying.
The grounding was being done voluntarily by the airlines.
But the ministry says it's categorizing the problem Wednesday as a "serious incident" that could have led to an accident.
Details of Wednesday's emergency landing were still being checked, ANA spokesman Takuya Taniguchi said after the flight to Tokyo from Ube landed at the Takamatsu airport.
ANA's 787s have encountered several problems in the past two weeks, though no injuries have been reported.
Taniguchi said the airline was not yet prepared to comment on the general problems that have surfaced in the 787.
The U.S. government is conducting a review to find out what caused a fire, a fuel leak and other worrisome incidents with Boeing's newest and most technologically advanced airliner, though it has reassured the public it is safe to fly.
Japanese airlines have been the first to roll out the 787. Boeing has said that various technical problems are to be expected in the early days of any aircraft model.
"We're aware of the ANA 787 diversion in Japan. We will be working with ANA and the authorities to determine what happened and why," Boeing said in a Tweet in response to Wednesday's incident.
A fire ignited Jan. 7 in the battery pack of an auxiliary power unit of a Japan Airlines 787 empty of passengers as the plane sat on the tarmac at Boston's Logan International Airport. It took firefighters 40 minutes to put out the blaze.
Later last week, Japan Airlines reported a 100-liter fuel leak in a 787 during an inspection in Tokyo.
ANA cancelled a domestic flight to Tokyo on Jan. 9 after a computer wrongly indicated there was a problem with the Boeing 787's brakes. Two days later, the carrier reported two new cases of problems with the aircraft, a minor fuel leak and a cracked windscreen in a 787 cockpit.
ANA has said it has no specific plan for inspections and will continue regular operations, though it said it would comply with instructions from the FAA and other authorities.
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