On September 5, 2012 the All Nippon Airways cancelled to take off a Boeing Dreamliner after there appeared to be white smoke seen from the aircraft’s left engine. The Boeing 787 was moving towards the runway at the Okayama airport bound for Tokyo when the smoke was seen behind the engine.
The fumes were also shown in a TV footage. A spokesperson from the ANA said, “We are confirming what happened. At this point, we believe it was due to a glitch with the hydraulic system”. The spokesperson added, “Oil from the hydraulic system leaked onto the heated left engine. Because the engine is hot, the oil was vaporised, like mist”.
It was also informed that it might have looked like smoke as it turned white but it wasn’t something that was burning. The heated oil was just being vaporised and it does not appear that the engine was broken.
The airline also informed that none of the 88 passengers aboard were injured or harmed. The 787 Dreamliner is touted as a new hope for the US manufacturer Boeing, who says that that it has a next generation composite fiber body which reduces the weight and also increases the fuel efficiency. The aircraft has been hit by a number of glitches including test engine trouble in the month of July.
