UPDATE 10:30 PM ET: A statement from Boeing says the company “is aware of the diversion of a 787 operated by ANA to Takamatsu in western Japan. We will be working with our customer and the appropriate regulatory agencies.”
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UPDATE 10:20 PM ET: Japan Airlines has confirmed to NYCAviation that it too will ground its 787 fleet today. In a statement, the airline said, “To ensure safety, Japan Airlines has decided to suspend its 787-8 operations outbound from Japan today, January 16 (Tokyo time).” Japan Airlines operates seven Boeing 787s.
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All Nippon Airways will ground its entire fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliners after one of their planes made an emergency landing in Japan on Wednesday local time.
Wednesday’s incident involved reports of smoke in the cabin aboard a flight from Yamaguchi-Ube Airport to Tokyo-Haneda. The plane made an emergency landing at Takamatsu Airport and all 137 passengers evacuated by emergency slides, but none were injured according to NHK.
The cause of the smoke was not immediately known.
ANA told NHK it would ground all 17 of its Dreamliners for emergency inspections effective immediately.
Last week the US FAA announced a formal inquiry of the 787’s design and construction following a fire aboard a Japan Airlines 787 in Boston. The next day another JAL Dreamliner suffered a fuel leak in Boston, and then the same plane leaked again when it returned to Japan.