Another Boeing 787 Dreamliner has caused problems for an airline. An Air India flight had to divert to Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday after a software issue.
Flight AI301 was carrying 215 passenger to New Delhi from Melbourne when a software glitch occurred. As a precaution, the pilots decided to make an unscheduled landing to the capital of Malaysia, the Wall Street Journal reports.
"Whenever you get a signal for a defect, you try to land at the closest airport," an Air India spokesman said according to the Journal. The spokesman added that the airline and Boeing are working to fix the issue.
According to Air India, Boeing had just upgraded the computer software in the Dreamliner jets, which Air India has 12 of. "They are close to rectifying the problem and the aircraft should be able to take off soon," the Air India
spokesman said.
Boeing said that they are aware of the issue but didn't provide any more details. "We are aware of the in-service incident and are working with Air India to provide support," Jay Krishnan, a Singapore-based Boeing spokeswoman told WSJ.
Air India was one of the first airlines to acquire Boeing 787 jets. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner was supposed to be revolutionary due to its light weight that reduces fuel costs but it has had a series of issues since it was introduced.
The biggest issue was mass battery problems. Following two incidents involving the battery on Japanese Airlines, all Boeing 787 Dreamliners were grounded across the world for about three months so Boeing could solve the battery problem.
Air India ordered 27 of the planes, two of which it will get early this year, but the airline has also had issues with the Dreamliner. For instance, in November, a Dreamliner windshield cracked as the plane was landing in Melbourne. This came a few weeks after some Air India 787s had technical problems on the ground and flights were cancelled. In October, an exterior panel from the fuselage fell off a Dreamliner as it was landing.
Air India is sticking with the jet in hopes of turning a profit from saving on fuel costs.
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