WASHINGTON ¨C Inadequate design and testing caused last year¡¯s battery fire that led to the grounding of Boeing Co.¡¯s Dreamliner jets for more than three months, investigators concluded.
Boeing had certified that overheating in one cell of the lithium-ion battery couldn¡¯t spread to others and the Federal Aviation Administration approved the design and testing. The National Transportation Safety Board faulted both in a final report for not anticipating how the power packs might fail, and cited battery maker GS Yuasa Corp. for poor manufacturing.
Monday¡¯s findings bring to a close an almost two-year probe into events that triggered the longest grounding of a large commercial aircraft by U.S. regulators since jets were introduced in the 1950s. It also prompted a re-examination of the dangers of lithium-ion power packs that have helped drive advances in personal electronic devices and electric cars.
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