Attempt to hush up new Qatar 787 fire fails | Plane Talking
Attempt to hush up new Qatar 787 fire fails
Ben Sandilands | Jul 27, 2013 9:04AM | EMAIL | PRINT
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Updated with link to 787 management change
After days of stonewalling it has been confirmed that a Qatar Airways 787 caught fire, according to some reports, in a rear underfloor part of the fuselage, last Sunday as it was moving into position to take off from Doha airport.
The fire has been described as ‘serious’ in some quarters, ‘not serious’ by the airline, and also by one contact as having extensively damaged an important panel in the electrical bay that also caught fire in a test flight Dreamliner in November 2010, causing an emergency diversion to Laredo where that jet was evacuated.
It may be another reason for Qatar Airways to be reluctant to restore its original ambition to fly 787s between Doha and Perth from 1 February, a long oceanic route route with comparatively few emergency diversionary airport options along the way that would have become Australia’s first scheduled Dreamliner service, but has since been overlooked by the airline as it rebuilds and expands its services with the plastic electric jet.
goes on . . .
Note there are two major panels - the one during flight test was essentially under wing trailing edge and would be considered the forward panel
the rear panel is at the aft end of the cargo bay