Washington (CNN) - United Airlines plans to resume flying the 787 Dreamliner in May, the carrier told CNN in anticipation of regulatory approval of Boeing's remedy for battery problems that forced the jetliner's worldwide grounding.
United, the only U.S. airline that flies the 787, said it was in the process of formulating its plans to resume Dreamliner service. It will fly the plane on both domestic and international routes.
Boeing modified the 787's lithium-ion battery system after fires in Boston and in Japan prompted aviation authorities globally to ground it in January. The Federal Aviation Administration must sign off on the redesign.
The Federal Aviation Administration on Tuesday approved a proposed remedy for problems that triggered battery fires and led to the grounding of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, but the company must still demonstrate its approach will ensure safety before those planes can fly again.
The agency said it had signed off on a certification plan by the world's biggest aircraft manufacturer to redesign the wide body's lithium-ion battery system.
FULL STORYU.S. regulators have ordered airlines to ground all U.S.-registered Boeing 787 Dreamliners until a fire risk linked to batteries aboard the jetliners is fixed.
The move comes on the day that two Japanese airlines, All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines, grounded their fleets of the 787 Dreamliner. That move came after an ANA 787 made an emergency landing in Japan after a battery alarm signal activated on the plane.
United Airlines is the only U.S. carrier flying Dreamliners. They have six.
"Before further flight, operators of U.S.-registered, Boeing 787 aircraft must demonstrate to the Federal Aviation Administration that the batteries are safe and in compliance," the FAA said Wednesday evening.
The Dreamliner has been beset by a string of mechanical and other problems for months, including reports of an oil leak, a fuel leak, engine cracks and a damaged cockpit window. Also, the National Transportation Safety Board is investigating a January 7 battery fire aboard a Japan Airlines Boeing 787 at Logan International Airport in Boston.
Dreamliner battery problems worry experts most
A JetBlue pilot arrested after an apparent meltdown aboard a March flight will be released with conditions, including continuing mental health treatment, a federal judge in Texas ruled Friday.
In July, Clayton Osbon was found not guilty by reason of insanity. He was charged following a March 27 incident on a JetBlue flight from New York to Las Vegas. Early in that flight, the plane's co-pilot became concerned about Osbon's bizarre behavior, according to an FBI affidavit. Read more about the pilot's release.
Geomagnetic and solar radiation storms hitting Earth after Tuesday's solar flares may not be as big as advertised, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Thursday.
Together, such storms can affect GPS systems, other satellite systems and power grids, but none of these problems has been reported, even as the leading edge of the sun's coronal mass ejections from Tuesday hit Earth on Thursday morning, scientists said.
The geomagnetic storm has reached only G1 intensity on a scale from G1 (weak) to G5 (extreme), and the solar radiation storm is an S3 (strong) on a similar 1-to-5 scale, NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center said. Earlier, NOAA had predicted a G3/S4 event.
Still, the solar radiation storm has prompted some airlines to divert planes from routes near the north pole, where radio communications may be affected and passengers at high altitudes may be at a higher than normal radiation risk.
FULL STORYToday's launch of Atlantis will be the last time a space shuttle lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center. For more than 30 years, the orbiters have pushed the bounds of science and carried hundreds of people and tons of large cargo into orbit. As the final mission begins, CNN looks back at moments that have defined this one-of-a-kind program. You also can take a look at part one of the shuttle's most memorable moments.
FULL POST
For more than 30 years, America's space shuttles have rocketed into orbit. Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour blasted off 134 times from the Kennedy Space Center. They were mankind's first reusable space launch vehicles, and the first to glide back to Earth on wings. As the space shuttle program ends with the final flight of Atlantis, CNN looks back at key moments that have defined this pioneering space program.
FULL POST
Three men were sentenced to prison for forcing an African-American man out of a South Carolina convenience store, threatening him with a chainsaw and stealing his car, an incident the Department of Justice said was fueled by hate.
Thomas Blue Sr., 49, owner of the convenience store, was sentenced Tuesday to 13 years in prison in the 2007 incident. A second man, Judson Hartley Talbert, was sentenced to nine years, the department said. Blue's son, Thomas Blue Jr., 29, was sentenced to three years.
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