Boeing Dreamliner: Battery probe results 'weeks away'

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A US regulator has said it may take "weeks" for it to complete its probe into battery problems that hit two of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner planes.

A battery on one plane caught fire, while a malfunction forced another to make an emergency landing last month.

The incidents led to the authorities grounding all 50 of the 787s in use.

However, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said that the battery being used in the 787s may not necessarily be unsafe.

"I would not want to categorically say that these batteries are not safe," said Deborah Hersman, head of the NTSB.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21363491

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Tests on Dreamliner batteries carried out by Boeing when they were first certificated for flight missed the high risk of fire, US regulators have said.

Boeing's tests on the 787 overestimated the frequency of "smoke events" in the lithium ion batteries, the National Transportation Safety Board said.

They also failed to spot that overheating in one battery cell could cascade to the others, causing a fire.

The regulator said it still had many more leads to investigate.

Earlier this week, the NTSB said it would take weeks for it to complete its investigations. Its head, Deborah Hersman, said the regulator hoped to produce an interim factual report - but not a final report - within 30 days
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21373593