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A Boeing 787 Dreamliner operated by Japan Airlines (JAL) was forced to land prematurely
in Hawaii, after pilots shut down one of its engines.
Flight JL002 with 171 people on board was en route from Tokyo to San Francisco when
an oil pressure warning was received, forcing the pilots to terminate the flight eight hours
in. "At the approach to Honolulu the oil pressure
was getting low, so the engine was shutdown," a JAL spokesperson told CNN.
"When one engine of an aircraft with twin engines is stopped, the airline must declare
an emergency so the flight can have priority to be guided by air traffic control and apply
for landing. "There was no injured passenger or crew.
"It was not battery trouble; the cause is being investigated."
Hairline cracks discovered The diversion came just days after Boeing's
announcement that hairline cracks had been found in the wings of 40 in-production planes.
While teething problems are common with most new models of aircraft -- the Dreamliner fleet
was famously grounded in January 2013 after numerous problems with its battery -- Boeing
admits that reliability is a work in progress. "The Dreamliner has a dispatch reliability
rate of 98%," Rob Henderson, Boeing's communications director Japan told CNN.
"But we're improving that all the time, to get it up to where the 777 and 737 are -- above
99%." Dispatch reliability is the percentage of
planes that leave within 15 minutes of the scheduled takeoff time, assuming no technical
reasons for delay. The Dreamliner has a dedicated "Operations
Control Center" that helps assist with problems as they occur.
"The center monitors every 787 in flight; it identifies problems and works with the
airline to provide maintenance, sometimes even in flight," said Henderson.