Japanese airlines ground Dreamliners

  • 11 years ago
Passengers on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner head to the emergency slides, after their plane was forced to land due to a malfunction.

Pilots on the All Nippon Airways (ANA) Dreamliner made the emergency landing in Japan on Wednesday (January 16), after an apparent battery error triggered warnings in the cockpit.

Witnesses said there was a strong burning smell on the plane.

It's the latest and most serious incident to hit the Dreamliner, which is the world's first mainly carbon-composite airliner.

SOUNDBITE: UNIDENTIFIED PASSENGER SAYING (Japanese):

"As we were going down for the emergency landing, the cabin attendant's voice was actually shaking so I realized that this was actually pretty bad."

At a news conference, officials from ANA apologised for causing passengers grief and said planes are grounded for the time being.

Japan Airlines has also suspended Dreamliner flights.

The two Japanese airlines operate around half of the 50 Dreamliners currently delivered by Boeing.

Japan and the U.S. have opened investigations into the plane.

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