Air India Dreamliner flight diverted after software problems

Boeing's troubled Dreamliner has been hit by more teething problems, after software "glitches" on an Air India jet late on Wednesday led to the mid-flight shutdown of all three on-board flight management computers.

The global Dreamliner fleet was grounded for three months last year because of several overheating incidents with their lithium-ion batteries. Though apparently less serious, the mid-air computer malfunction aboard Air India - which people familiar with the situation say follows a similar incident on another airline late last year - gives Boeing one more headache to solve following the Dreamliner's delayed 2011 debut.

The jet, which was en route from Australia to New Delhi with 231 people on board, landed without incident shortly after the computer screens "went blank", with pilots relying on alternative radio navigation aids to reach Kuala Lumpur, the nearest airport.

"All flight management computers failed, and the pilot lost the basic navigation data they had set in, so he diverted to Kuala Lumpur," Air India said. "It was absolutely not dangerous but a little more work was expected from the pilots."

Boeing said "we are aware of the in-service situation and we are supporting our customer", but declined to provide further details of what happened.

However, people familiar with the incident say it marks the second instance of a Dreamliner's flight management systems failing mid-flight, resulting in a loss of navigation data and other functions.

Honeywell, which along with Boeing is working on a fix for the problem behind the first incident, said it was looking into the Air India fault but declined to comment further.

"We are aware of this happening once before," Air India said, although it did not know which airline had been affected. In that case pilots had been able to fly to the final destination using radio navigation and landed without incident.

In both cases, the computers were successfully restarted once the planes were on the ground. Investigation into the earlier incident apparently ruled out any crew error triggering the computer problem.

Earlier this week, Lot, the Polish airline, said it was forced to call off a transatlantic Dreamliner flight because of a malfunction that required restarting the on-board computers just before take-off. However, the airline said: "These situations are normal in everyday operational activities and they happen no matter what type of airliner."

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Industry sources say Boeing has told airlines operating Dreamliners that it is now working on fixing its software to correct the deficiencies that are believed to be triggering the sudden computer shutdowns.

Concerns about the Dreamliner's batteries were renewed last month after JAL's maintenance staff noticed smoke coming from a parked aircraft. The battery was found to be overheating though undamaged, and the cause of the problem has not yet been clarified.

Richard Aboulafia, analyst at Teal Group, said there had been no fundamental problem with the Dreamliner, but that it was suffering "teething problems".

"It's expensive, it's embarrassing, but none of it will get people cancelling orders in droves," he said. "On the other hand, they've got to make this right. If it worsens somehow and you see reliability moving in the other direction, then you've got a real issue, with potential cancellations."

Additional reporting by Jan Cienski in Warsaw

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