Boeing asks airlines worldwide to inspect aircraft for data on Honeywell beacons

Boeing Co yesterday called on airlines to inspect aircraft worldwide to gather data on Honeywell International's emergency beacons that have come under scrutiny after a fire aboard a parked 787 Dreamliner two weeks ago.

The beacons have been fitted on nearly 1,200 Boeing aircraft - from the smallest to the largest models - and the plane maker has asked carriers to inspect as many as possible within 10 days so that regulators can decide on action to be taken, if at all.

"Boeing is asking specific operators of 717, Next-Generation 737, 747-400, 767 and 777s to inspect aircraft with the Honeywell fixed emergency locator transmitters," a Boeing spokesman said in an emailed statement late on Sunday.

"The purpose of these inspections is to gather data to support potential rule-making by regulators," he added.

The move comes as the latest response to a fire that seriously damaged a parked 787 Dreamliner of Ethiopian Airlines at London's Heathrow airport on 12 July.

The fire was traced by UK investigators to the area housing one of the units. They recommended worldwide inspections of all lithium battery-powered emergency locator transmitters.

On Thursday, airlines were instructed by the US Federal Aviation Administration to remove or inspect Honeywell fixed emergency beacons in the 787, the model in which the fire had occurred, but had not widened its mandatory checks to other models so far.

According to Boeing, it had asked operators of 717, Next-Generation 737, 747-400, 767 and 777 airplanes to inspect aircraft.

"We're taking this action following the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) special bulletin, which recommended that airplane models with fixed Honeywell ELTs be inspected," Randy Tinseth, vice president (marketing) for Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said in a blog post.

"The purpose of these inspections is to gather data to support potential rulemaking by regulators."

The fire on the parked Ethiopian Airlines plane, led to closure of London's Heathrow airport for 90 minutes.

According to an AAIB statement, the component called for more "airworthiness action".

"It was not clear whether the combustion in the area of the ELT was initiated by a release of energy within the batteries or by an external mechanism such as an electrical short," it added.

It went on to say that the ceiling space where the ELT was located does "not typically carry the means of fire detection... had this event occurred in flight it could have pose a significant safety concern and raise challenges for the cabin crew in tackling the resulting fire".

Honeywell International, maker of the emergency transmitters, had said that it backed the proposal to switch them off while investigations continued, though adding that it was "premature to jump to conclusions".