Tag Archives: fire onboard

Boeing to investigate wiring defect in Dreamliner

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Boeing to investigate wiring defect in DreamlinerBoeing has said that it will investigate a wiring defect that was found in a fire extinguisher system on three of its 787 Dreamliner jets.

The fault was found on jets operated by Japan’s All Nippon Airways (ANA).

The problem – the latest in a series of setbacks for Boeing’s 787 – was first discovered during pre-flight maintenance of a jet at Tokyo airport, an ANA spokeswoman said.

Rival Japan Airlines turned back a 787 travelling from Tokyo to Helsinki to check the wiring after ANA reported the fault on Wednesday.

It is the latest issue to hit the 787 jet after battery problems grounded the entire fleet earlier this year.

Boeing said it was aware of the latest issue and was looking into the matter.

“The safety of those flying on Boeing aeroplanes is our top priority. We will thoroughly examine this issue and take the appropriate steps,” the firm said in a statement.

In July, a fire broke out on a 787 Dreamliner jet operated by Ethiopian Airlines while it was parked at Heathrow airport.

The fire was traced to the upper rear part of the plane where a transmitter used to locate aircraft after a crash is located.

US carrier United Airlines also found a pinched wire during an inspection of one of its six 787s.

Boeing has since asked airlines to carry out inspections of the transmitters.

It has also asked operators of other aircraft models – the 717, Next-Generation 737, 747-400, 767 and 777 – to inspect aircraft.

Grandeur of the Seas Returns

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Grandeur of the Seas Returns

Royal Caribbean’s Grandeur returns to Baltimore

By: Marilyn Green

Grandeur of the Seas was welcomed her homeport of Baltimore flying an historic flag. // (c) 2013 Royal Caribbean International

Grandeur of the Seas was welcomed her homeport of Baltimore flying an historic flag. // (c) 2013 Royal Caribbean International

On July 12, Royal Caribbean International’s Grandeur of the Seas was welcomed back to her homeport of Baltimore, after six weeks’ recovery from a May 27 fire in the Bahamas, which is still under investigation.

Grandeur previously had a five-week, $48 million revitalization last year, adding balconies and Oasis-class features including flat-screen televisions, an outdoor movie screen and a redesigned atrium equipped for aerial shows, which received heavy applause as guests captured the Four Seasons spectacular. There are also new digital signs by the elevators that take guests through the daily schedule, give directions and display restaurant menus, all in several languages.

But only a few weeks after the ship started service out of Baltimore, the fire broke out. It was extinguished without injuries, although the passengers were called to their muster stations as a precaution. The ship never lost its power, propulsion or communications.

As Grandeur sailed back into Baltimore in July, the ship flew the historic Star-Spangled Banner flag as it passed Fort McHenry, as well as the U.S. Navy’s “Don’t Give up the Ship” flag flown by Commodore Perry during the War of 1812. Clearly, agents took up the message: Royal executives hosted 1,600 travel partners on a July 12 sailing prior to the resumption of revenue service, and attendees were warm in their praise.

The city was even more enthusiastic in its welcome for Grandeur in the wake of the announcement that Carnival Pride would be leaving the homeport in 2014. Grandeur of the Seas is committed to year-round cruises from Baltimore until at least April 2015.

RCCL overcoming negative media coverage of cruising, says Fain

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RCCL overcoming negative media coverage of cruising, says Fain

By Jerry Limone
_ Richard FainDespite the “unrelenting pressure of a deluge of negative publicity” on the cruise industry this year, things are looking up, said Richard Fain, chairman and CEO of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.

Speaking during RCCL’s second-quarter earnings call on Thursday, Fain said the company is overcoming what he called “the CNN effect” of media scrutiny on events that have occurred this year, including fires on the Grandeur of the Seas and Carnival Triumph and the Carnival Dream stalling.

Negative coverage “clearly hurt our bookings, and unfortunately to a greater extent than we originally understood,” Fain said.

The company’s net income for the second quarter was $24.7 million, compared with a net loss of $3.7 million in the same period a year earlier.

The company managed a profit despite the Grandeur fire in May, which resulted in the cancellation of six cruises. Royal Caribbean estimated that the financial impact of the Grandeur incident was about $11 million in the second quarter (an approximate $11 million hit is expected for the third quarter, too).

An unexpected noncash charge of about $15 million also was a second-quarter setback. The charge occurred because the company needed to readjust liability in its affinity credit card program.

Still, Royal Caribbean was profitable, and Fain credited robust onboard spending, effective cost control and the performance of its largest, newest ships — the Oasis and the Allure of the Seas.

Looking ahead, Fain said that bookings for the rest of 2013 and 2014 are ahead of where Royal Caribbean was at this time last year, in terms of load factor and pricing.

The company is still dealing with the effects of negative publicity from incidents in the industry that occurred earlier this year, Fain said, including “competitive pricing.”

However, he added, “We can already see indications that [the media coverage] factor is waning, and this is most encouraging going forward.”

Addressing concerns about cruise safety, Fain said, “I think most of you understand that the recent incidents in our industry are an aberration from an otherwise exemplary safety record over many decades.”