Dutch flag carrier KLM was forced to ground seven of its Boeing 787 Dreamliners on Saturday after engineers realized they had followed the wrong maintenance procedures on a component used to refuel the widebody aircraft.
At least 650 passengers were stranded at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport on May 3 after KLM took the planes out of service with so little notice that it didn’t have enough spare aircraft to operate its planned schedule.
Passengers on flights from Amsterdam to Chicago O’Hare, Portland, and Mexico City were all struck in the Dutch capital after the sudden and unexpected maintenance issue cropped up, a spokesperson for the airline confirmed.
In a statement provided to the Dutch news wire ANP, the airline said the seven affected planes would have to go through expedited maintenance after engineers discovered their mistake.
It appears that the refueling component at the heart of the problem is identical on both the Boeing 777 and Boeing 787 Dreamliner, but different procedures apply to how maintenance is conducted on this component between the two aircraft types.
Engineers at KLM apparently followed the 777 procedure while carrying out maintenance on the components of some of the airline’s 787 Dreamliner fleet.
“Although there is no safety risk, the seven aircraft will remain grounded and undergo expedited maintenance,” a spokesperson told ANP.
The statement continued: “KLM has therefore decided to carry out maintenance on the seven affected 787 aircraft as quickly as possible according to the correct specifications.”
On Saturday, three KLM services had to be canceled at short notice due to a lack of spare aircraft. These were:
- KL685 from Amsterdam Schiphol to Mexico City
- KL611 from Amsterdam Schiphol to Chicago O’Hare
- KL615 from Amsterdam Schiphol to Portland
The airline is now scrambling to book affected passengers onto alternative flights, although it remains unclear whether the issue might continue into Sunday.
