In-Flight Fire Adds to Boeing's 787 Dreamliner Nightmare

The Boeing Company has called a halt to test flights of its 787 Dreamliner, after an electrical fire "affected the cockpit controls and the jet lost its primary flight displays and its auto-throttle," reports the Seattle Times. The plane made an emergency landing in Laredo, Texas, with 42 people on board.

A lot depends on the cause of the fire, and whether it was a simple equipment malfunction or was the result of a more serious design flaw.

Either way, says the New York Times, "[s]everal analysts said they doubted that Boeing, which is counting on the jet to vault past Airbus in total sales, would meet its deadline to deliver the first 787 by next March."

Every story in the media takes the opportunity to mention that the Dreamliner is almost three years behind schedule at this point, thanks to Boeing management's attempt to outsource the company's supply line. Multiple issues with Italian manufacturers and even a problem with the work of the venerable Rolls Royce engine-makers have thrown the 787's ship date drastically off schedule.

In hindsight, you can see that Boeing executives traded a situation in which they had quality assurance but uncertain costs, for one with much more variable quality assurance and costs. It's ironic that Boeing, steaming over a two-month strike delay in 2008, made such a public show of siting a new 787 assembly line in South Carolina. Where will they site a new corporate headquarters now that it's clear the old one is the driver of decisions that now threaten the company's future in commercial air?