ANA Finds Damaged Battery Wires on Boeing Locator Beacons

TOKYO — Japan’s ANA Holdings Inc, which operates the world’s biggest fleet of Boeing Co Dreamliners, said it found damage to the battery wiring on two 787 locator beacons during checks after the devices were identified as the likely cause of a fire on another aircraft in London this month.

The damage was slight, but the beacons have been sent to the manufacturer, Honeywell International Inc, for inspection and the airline has informed local aviation regulators, an ANA spokesman, Ryousei Nomura, said.

British investigators probing the fire aboard an Ethiopian Airlines Dreamliner at Heathrow airport are focusing a possible pinched wire on an emergency beacon and on condensation in the plane, which has higher humidity levels than other aircraft.

ANA has taken the built-in locator beacons out of its eight domestically operated Dreamliners with the permission of local regulators and has inspected and put back those on its 12 787s that fly international routes.

The beacons are designed to guide rescuers to downed aircraft, although in most cases close radar tracking and eyewitness reports allow air traffic controllers to pinpoint crash sites.

Also Friday, Qatar Airways said that it had taken one of its Dreamliners out of service following what it described as a minor technical issue, as pressure mounted on the plane maker over possible new electrical problems with the advanced jet.

The airline and Boeing declined to give further details.

According to Web-tracking service Flightaware, the Qatar Airways aircraft, registered as A7-BCB, has not flown since Sunday, an unusually long downtime for a long-haul jet designed to save on fuel bills.

Qatar Airways confirmed an aircraft had been taken out of service, but said no flights had been canceled as a result.