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Boeing first applied to make the 787 to the FAA in 2003. The first 787 flew in December 2009, and six test planes ran up some 4,645 flight hours. About a quarter of those hours were flown by FAA flight test crews, the agency said in 2011. The battery that burned on Monday is used to start the plane's auxiliary power unit, a small engine in the back of the plane that that acts as a generator to provides power on the ground, or if the jet engines quit. Other planes use hot air from the outside to start the APU. But one of the fuel-saving designs in the 787 was to get rid of the hot air system used by other planes, so its APU is started with electricity. Lithium-ion batteries are potentially more susceptible to fire because, unlike other aircraft batteries, the liquid inside of them is flammable. The potential for fire increases if the battery is depleted too much or overcharged. Boeing has built in special circuitry and other safeguards designed to prevent that situation. The review also raises questions about the 787's ability to win approval to fly extremely long distances away from airports. That's a huge issue, since the 787's long range is one of its main selling points. Regulators want to know that long-range planes are safe to fly even if the nearest airport is more than an hour way. Such certification is important for flights across the Pacific, or over the North Pole, the route used for many flights between North America and Asia. The 787 already has approval for flights up to three hours away from the nearest airport. It has met the flight test requirements to go up to 5.5 hours away but doesn't have permission yet because of a rule change by the FAA, said 787 chief engineer Mike Sinnett on Wednesday. Boeing's 777 won such approval in December 2011. ___ Online: Federal Aviation Administration: http://www.faa.gov/ Boeing: http://www.boeing.com/
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