Posted on 10/09/2013 11:13:53 PM PDT by TexGrill
TOKYO: A 787 Dreamliner bound for Japan was forced to turn around and fly back to Russia after toilets on the plane refused to flush, operator Japan Airlines (JAL) said Thursday.
The Boeing plane carrying 151 crew members and passengers left Moscow late Wednesday for Narita airport east of Tokyo but returned two hours later, a JAL spokesman said.
"It was hit by trouble," he said.
He added the glitches were believed to be due to an electrical fault but had nothing to do with the plane's batteries.
The average flight time between Moscow and Tokyo is around 10 hours.
Boeing's 787 lightweight plane -- hailed for its fuel-efficiency but marred by years of production delays -- was grounded globally in January after lithium-ion batteries overheated on two different planes, with one of them catching fire while parked.
JAL and its Japanese rival All Nippon Airways, the single biggest operators of the Dreamliner, have put their fleets back into service. JAL resumed Dreamliner flights in June after fixing the batteries.
(Excerpt) Read more at channelnewsasia.com ...
Dreamliner headed for Japan out of San Diego also turned back due to inoperable de-icers
Battery-operated toilet flushers?
It is bad when even a clogged lav drags you back in the news.
Despite all of my international travels, I have never seen an airplane toilet, thanks to will-power and determination not to break my record. I can, however, understand how a clogged toilet on a jumbo’s international flight could be quite a problem, depending on how many they have, and the number of passengers.
That’s an amazing feat. Ever flown from Dallas to Seoul? LA to Beijing?
“Ever flown from Dallas to Seoul? LA to Beijing?”
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No, that would be a real challenge. I made numerous trips between Memphis and Amsterdam (4500+ miles)when NW/KLM had a Memphis hub.
Sao Paulo to New York was my worst, but I held out.
My trips between Vienna and Cebu have a break in Doha.
If I understand the story correctly, it was not a single inoperative toilet. The entire toilet system was kaput.
If it ain’t Boeing, I ain’t - Never mind...
They made the mistake of having Gov. Chris Christie and Michael Moore on the same flight with ‘stomach problems’.
Despite all of my international travels, I have never seen an airplane toilet, thanks to will-power and determination not to break my record.
That is an amazing feat. I stand (or sit) in awe.
5.56mm
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