Heathrow Dreamliner Fire Probe Looks At Beacon

By Mark White, Home Affairs Correspondent

Investigators are examining the possibility a battery within an emergency locator component may have been to blame for a fire on an Ethiopian Airlines 787 Dreamliner at Heathrow Airport.

The fire last Friday caused extensive damage to the rear section of the plane, near the tail fin.

A team from Britain's Air Accidents Investigations Branch (AAIB) is looking at a number of components, including the Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT), which is positioned in the upper rear part of the aircraft, near to the spot where the fire broke out.

The ELT is manufactured by the US electronics firm Honeywell.

An AAIB spokesman told Sky News: "We can confirm that Honeywell have been invited to join the investigation.

"The Emergency Locator Transmitter is one of several components being looked at in detail as part of the investigation and it would be premature to speculate on the cause of the incident at this stage."

Dreamliner flights were grounded in January after a battery fault

Although investigators appear to have ruled out a recurrence of faults within the main battery system, which grounded the entire Dreamliner fleet worldwide earlier this year, the battery attached to the Emergency Locator Transmitter is being viewed as a possible source for the fire.

The ELT is designed to send out an emergency signal in the event of an aircraft accident, helping to lead rescuers to the crash site.

The transmitter is powered by a non-rechargeable lithium-manganese battery.

The focus on the emergency beacon will raise concerns among executives at the plane's manufacturer Boeing, who have already had to embark on a hugely expensive exercise to improve to reinforce the Dreamliner's main battery systems in the wake of the earlier faults.

The fire damaged Ethiopian Airlines plane has been moved to a hangar at Heathrow as investigators continue their examination.

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