CNN reports that FAA officials ordered on Wednesday all U.S.-based airlines to temporarily ground their Boeing 787 Dreamliners until a "fire risk linked to batteries" can be fixed aboard the massive jetliners.
The announcement comes the same day that two Japanese airlines grounded their 787 fleets following an emergency landing by an All Nippon Airways flight, the Associated Press reports.
KPCC's Brian Watt spoke with Nancy Castles, Media Relations Director at Los Angeles International Airport, about the number of Dreamliners at LAX, and the potential local impact of the grounding order.
"We have nearly 1,700 flights per day at LAX, Castles said. "No more than two or three of them are on 787s. There really aren’t many parked here."
The 250-passenger aircraft has a flight range of 8,200 nautical miles.
United Airlines offers one daily Dreamliner flight between LAX and Tokyo, and two daily flights to Houston.
The airline launched its Tokyo service two weeks ago, just after Chile’s LAN Airlines began running three weekly Dreamliner flights between LAX and Santiago.
In December, LAN announced plans to acquire 32 787 aircraft over the next 10 years. According to the news release, the $4.9 billion order represents one of the largest investments in the airline's history.
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