Timeline of Boeing 787 Dreamliner faults and groundings

The Boeing Dreamliner. Credit: Reuters

Boeing unveiled plans for its first new plane since 1995 in 2004. The Dreamliner was hailed the most environmentally friendly airplane ever designed.

Even before the plane took to the skies there were problems, the Dreamliner took its first test flight in December 2009, 30 months behind schedule.

  • 2011 - Boeing delivers the first Dreamliner to All Nippon Airways, three years late.

  • July 2012 - A fan shaft on an engine fails during tests in South Carolina

  • 13th December 2012 - A Qatar Airways Dreamliner is grounded following electric problems

  • 17th December - United Airlines identifies electric problem with a second Dreamliner

Firefighters climb into a rear cargo compartment of a Japan Airlines Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Credit: Reuters

  • 7th January 2013 - A lithium ion battery pack starts a fire on a Japan Airways Dreamliner

Burned power unit battery from a Boeing 787. Credit: National Transportation Safety Board

  • 8th January - United Airlines finds faulty battery wiring

  • 8th January - 150 litres of fuel spills from Japan Airliner in Boston

  • 9th January - All Nippon Airways cancels a flight after a computer falsely reports a brake fault

  • 11th January - Oil leak found on All Nippon Airways Dreamliner

  • 11th January - Cockpit window cracks in All Nippon Airways Dreamliner

  • 13th January - The same plane has another separate fuel leak during tests

All Nippon Airways Dreamliner makes emergency landing after a smoke alert
The Japanese Transport Ministry grounded Dreamliners after the emergency landing. Credit: RTV
Randy Tinseth, Vice President of marketing for Boeing (front), walks from an Ethiopian Airlines' 787 Dreamliner after it lands in Nairobi Credit: Reuters
Emergency services can be seen surrounding the Ethiopian Airlines planes at Heathrow.