Boeing versus the bloggers

Plane Talking has removed two images of the fire damage inside the second Dreamliner test and certification aircraft, ZA002, from the preceding article at the request of Boeing.

The images had earlier been removed at Boeing request by the Seattle Times, and completely expunged by Airliners.net and the Professional Pilots’ Rumour Network, Pprune.org.

We will however leave the smoking holes in place so to speak.

There is a public interest in the flammability, durability and reliability of airliners, as demonstrated by Plane Talking and without objection by Airbus in the case of our recent illustrated coverage of the damage done to QF32 on November 4.

The 787 is a substantially plastic airliner, has promised many things to airlines and air travellers over the course of its delay plagued development and testing and certification process. Whether it delivers or not, it has won more than 800 orders, including 50 from the Qantas group, making the Dreamliner story one of considerable importance, including the good days and the bad days.

The publication or suppression of information about a fire on board ZA002 is not in itself going to affect the resolution of issues arising from the fire, nor the time taken to achieve certification. It is the fire that matters, not the management of the message.