Ethiopian Airlines has grounded all four Boeing 787 aircraft for inspection, pending further investigation by US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Fortune learnt.
This followed a joint meeting between senior officials of the Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority and Ethiopian Airlines senior managers held today, sources disclosed. They are expected to issue a joint statement late this afternoon, following US Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) decision to temporarily ground all American operated Boeing 787 aircraft.
FAA passed its decision on Wednesday after a battery fault resulted in the emergency landing of a 787 aircraft in Japan. This happened twice in nine days.
Ethiopian Airlines was the second global carrier to acquire Boeing 787 next to Japan Airways when Boeing launched it. Ethiopian has flown a record time of 17 hours with the 787 during the past five months of operation, without incurring problems of the sort FAA is currently investigating.
Ethiopian’s four 787 aircrafts are currently taxied at its hub at Bole International Airport in Addis Abeba, waiting for a decision to be made by the country’s aviation officials, according to sources. These officials are in a meeting beginning today, hoping to hear from authorities of FAA and senior managers of the manufacturer, Fortune learnt.
Learn more about this unfurling event in the print version due for Sunday, January 20, 2013.
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