A new problem has surfaced regarding the 787 Dreamliner from Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA). Most of the planes that have been delivered to customers suffer from a software glitch that has caused at least five of the planes to report erroneous location data to air traffic control. As a result, two air traffic management agencies have put the 787 on a “blacklist” for some services.
According to a report last Thursday from FlightGlobal, 787s currently rolling off Boeing’s assembly line do not have the problem, and the company says “a service bulletin with instructions for operators to correct the position reporting error will be released ‘imminently.'” Operator compliance with Boeing’s service bulletin is voluntary however.
Boeing denies that the software problem poses a safety hazard:
It is important to understand that this is not a safety concern. Existing systems such as radar provide the necessary positional data to [air traffic control] that allow the continued safe operation of the fleet.
According to FlightGlobal:
The 787 software problem drove Canada’s air traffic control organisation Nav Canada last year to “blacklist” all 71 787s that were then using the country’s airspace. The blacklisting means the 787s are not allowed to use reduced separation procedures offered to other aircraft equipped with ADS-B [automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast transponders].
Airservices Australia considered a similar limitation for the 787 fleet last year because of the same software problem, but the consequences would have been more severe. Unlike Canada, Australia mandates that all aircraft above 29,000ft must have ADS-B transponders.
Australia’s air traffic control organization ended up blacklisting the 787 on surface management systems at three airports, not a particularly severe penalty, but one that called attention to the issue.
According to a report on the problem from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), Boeing expects to release the service bulletin this month and further expects fleet upgrades to occur throughout 2016.
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