787 Brake Control Software Awaited

The general manager of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner program expressed confidence Tuesday that the latest glitch in the aircraft’s assembly will be resolved without further delaying its first flight.

The first of three 787s being assembled in Everett, Wash., now in the build-verification process to validate electronics and hardware, is in “good shape,” with the balance of work remaining in its mid-body section, Boeing Vice President and Dreamliner GM Pat Shanahan told a Farnborough Airshow press briefing. But the aircraft still awaits verification of the software used in its brake control monitoring system, portions of which had to be rewritten. The brake control monitoring system is supplied by Hydro-Aire, Burbank, Calif., a subcontractor to GE Aviation.

“I’m confident, because it’s General Electric, that it will get done,” Shanahan said. “But it’s kind of an odd thing to be sticking out in the program right now.”

Shanahan said the 787 remains on track for a first flight in the fourth quarter. The program achieved an important milestone in June when the aircraft was powered on for the first time to prove the functionality of its electric systems. Orders have risen steadily to 896 aircraft, including 35 ordered Monday by Etihad Airways of UAE as part of a $21 billion mega-buy of both Airbus and Boeing models.