Investigators look into Boeing 787 battery maker following emergency

A spokesman for GS Yuasa Corp., said investigators from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Japan's Civil Aviation Bureau (CAB) were in the east block of the company's compound at Kyoto, where it makes airplane batteries.

He said the company was fully cooperating with the investigation, and its engineers were working with the officials.

Authorities around the world last week grounded the new lightweight aircraft, and Boeing halted deliveries after a problem with a lithium-ion battery prompted an All Nippon Airways 787 into the emergency landing at Takamatsu airport during a domestic flight. Earlier this month, a similar battery caught fire in a Japan Airlines' 787 parked at Boston Logan International Airport.

U.S. safety investigators on Sunday ruled out excess voltage as the cause of the Boston battery fire on Jan. 7, and said they were expanding their probe to look at the battery's charger and the jet's auxiliary power unit.

“Results have shown the battery was abnormal in both the Boston and Takamatsu (incidents). They were the most damaged,” Shigeru Takano, a senior safety official at the CAB, told reporters. Ahead of the on-site visit to GS Yuasa, Takano said: “We will look into if the work that took place, from design to manufacturing, was appropriate.”

Shares in GS Yuasa, valued at close to US$1.5 billion, rose 1 percent on Monday, having dropped nearly 10 percent since the Boston fire. The benchmark Nikkei was down 1.5 percent.

The company, which employs nearly 12,300 staff, expects revenue of 288 billion yen (US$3.2 billion) in the year to end-March — with only around 1 percent of that coming from its aircraft battery business. The company's batteries are used primarily in motorbikes, industrial equipment and power supply devices.

GS Yuasa, in which automaker Toyota Motor Corp. has a 2.7-percent stake, reported an operating profit of around US$160 million in the year to last March.

The battery is one part of the 787's complex electrical system, built by French company Thales SA.

SHARE CLOSE
Blogger		Google+
Live Journal		Plurk
Stumble Upon

Tweet

	PREVIOUS ARTICLE
	S. Korea team writes recipe for smallest Chevy

NEXT ARTICLE
Japan's central bank holds policy meeting amid calls for easing

Write a Comment

Terms

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

 Receive China Post promos
 Respond to this email

Submit