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To be honest, new, from-scratch airliner designs generally are always delayed entering service and generally always have problems initially. This is not new, an

To be honest, new, from-scratch airliner designs generally are always delayed entering service and generally always have problems initially. This is not new, and is not unique to the 787. The Airbus A380 went through a multiply-delayed process, for example, and had some pains entering into service (a pattern of engine problems revealed after a Qantas A380 had an oil leak followed by fire and disintegration of a turbine disk in one of its engines). The Boeing 777 had to have a heat exchanger in its engines redesigned. Airbus' timetable for the A350 is all out of whack. And I could go on and on... You're hearing about "problem after problem" because new airliners are high-profile media targets, and most reporting treats delays and post-launch problems as being somehow unprecedented, despite plenty of evidence to the contrary.

davidmr 14y ago
Excellent point. While any possibility of an onboard fire is extremely serious, a fan blade escaping engine housing containment and puncturing the wing is also extremely serious. It was only a combination of luck, skilled piloting, and sound aircraft design that kept that 380 in the air. A modern airliner such a vastly complicated machine that it's simply not possible to create an error free design. The best you can hope for is a safe enough design and competent enough operators to be able to bring the craft safely to ground in the event of a flaw. Combined with a competent regulator in the FAA, I would say that the system is working as designed. I might be an optimist, but I would have no qualms whatsoever about hopping on one for the first flight after they're allowed back in the air.