Japan Press Weekly

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2013 April 24 - May 7 [POLITICS]

JCP Kokuta calls for Japan’s own inspections of Boeing 787

Japanese Communist Party parliamentarian Kokuta Keiji on April 26 urged the government to set up its own system to determine the safety of the Boeing 787, which was found to have a serious problem with its battery.

Flights of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner have been cancelled throughout the world since January. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Japan’s Transport Ministry on April 26 approved the resumption of flights of the aircraft if their batteries are repaired.

At a House of Representatives transport committee meeting, in response to Kokuta questioning if the cause of the battery thermal runaway was determined, a representative of the government’s Transport Safety Board said, “It has not been determined yet.”

Condemning the government for resuming the flights without determining the cause of the problem, Kokuta demanded that the government listen to the opinions of pilots and mechanics and take on the responsibility to inspect the aircraft in order to ensure their safety.

Among the 50 Boeing 787s owned by airlines throughout the world, the largest number of 17 belong to All Nippon Airways (ANA), followed by 7 purchased by Japan Airlines (JAL).

Past related article:
> To resume Boeing 787 service without determining problems will provoke questions concerning safety (April 21, 2013)