Qatar Airways has been forced to ground one of its three Boeing 787 Dreamliners after it found the same fault that recently forced a United Airlines Dreamliner to make an emergency landing, its CEO said yesterday.
“One of our Dreamliners has the same problem that the United plane had and I am very disappointed in Boeing,” Qatar Airways Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker said in an interview at London’s Heathrow airport on Thursday. “We will demand compensation (from Boeing)… we are buying planes from them to use them, not to put in a museum.”
He said the plane, which has been grounded since Dec. 9, would not fly until next week after a Boeing team had repaired the fault.
Boeing is looking into electrical problems on four 787s after the groundings, which have occurred during the past two weeks. Although investigators initially focused on the 787’s electrical generator, they’re also examining the aircraft’s power panel and other components that distribute electricity, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing unnamed sources.
On Dec. 4, a United 787 was forced to make an emergency landing due to electrical issues. A failed generator, built by UTC Aerospace Systems, was blamed in that incident. On Thursday, Qatar’s CEO said one of the airline’s 787s had suffered a similar electrical incident.
From media reports
