As the root causes of the two recent Li-ion main battery incidents, abroad JAL Boeing 787 jet remain unexplained, Airbus has decided to act...
As the root causes of the two recent Li-ion main battery incidents, abroad JAL Boeing 787 jet remain unexplained, Airbus has decided to activate its “Plan B” and revert back to the proven and mastered nickel cadmium main batteries for its under development- A350 XWB jet program.
A350 will now feature Ni-Cd batteries during Entry Into Service.
Airbus is confident that the lithium ion (Li-ion) main battery architecture it has been developing with Saft and qualifying for the A350 XWB aircraft is robust and safe.
The A350 XWB flight test program will continue as planned with the qualified
Li-ion main batteries.
During the Boeing 787 certification process, Boeing studied possible failures that could occur within the battery. Those assessments included the likelihood of particular types of failures occurring, as well as the effects they could have on the battery. In tests to validate these assessments, Boeing found no evidence of cell-to-cell propagation or fire, both of which occurred in the JAL event.
In parallel, Airbus has also launched additional maturity studies on Li-ion main batteries behavior in aerospace operations and will naturally take on board the findings of the ongoing official investigation.
Airbus said the decision does not have any impact on A350 XWB's Entry Into Service in 2014.
