Japan’s two main airlines have grounded their Boeing 787 Dreamliners after one was forced to make an emergency landing on Wednesday morning because of battery problems.
All Nippon Airways (ANA) grounded its fleet of 17 Dreamliners after its flight NH 692 from Yamaguchi Ube was forced to land shortly after takeoff.
ANA said that the 129 passengers and 8 crew were evacuated, with a number of people sustaining minor injuries.
Japan private news channels reported that five people were injured, while state news agency said that one person was sent to hospital. ANA were not immediately available to confirm the figures.
Japan Airlines followed suit, saying it would ground its fleet of seven 787s from 16 January until further notice.
This is the latest setback for Boeing and its problem-hit Dreamliner planes.
In recent weeks, Dreamliners have suffered issues including fuel leaks, a cracked cockpit window, brake problems and an electrical fire.
“You’re nearing the tipping point where they need to regard this as a serious crisis,” said Richard Aboulafia, a senior analyst with the Teal Group in Fairfax, Virginia.
“This is going to change people’s perception of the aircraft if they don’t act quickly.”
On Wednesday, ANA’s flight NH 692 left Yamaguchi Ube in western Japan at 08:10 local time (23:10 GMT) and headed for Tokyo’s Haneda airport.
Shortly after takeoff smoke was seen in the cockpit, but not in the passenger compartment and a strange smell was reported.
ANA says that it does not yet know the source of the smoke, and is investigating the problem.
However, it added that the battery in the forward cargo hold was the same type as the one involved in a fire on another Dreamliner at a US airport last week.
The ANA flight landed at Takamatsu airport at 08:47 on Wednesday after the pilot saw an error message in the cockpit.
“There was a battery alert in the cockpit and there was an odd smell detected in the cockpit and cabin, and (the pilot) decided to make an emergency landing,” said Osamu Shinobe, an ANA vice president, at a press conference.
