What makes the Boeing 787 Dreamliner different?

The plane whose nose collapsed on the runway of London's Heathrow Airport was a model that defied expectations with an innovative set of design features as Boeing tried to steal a competitive advantage over its transatlantic rival, the European manufacturer Airbus.

A series of tragedies and mishaps has kept the aircraft in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. A 787-8 Dreamliner on Friday collapsed at London’s Heathrow Airport in an as yet unexplained incident.

It is one of three types of the aircraft, the others being the 787-9 and 787-10 models, which differ in design and capacity.

British Airways bought a total of 30 787s when the model was introduced. Boeing management hopes the Dreamliner will become the workhorse of their range and take the place of the 767 twin-aisle in the hearts of passengers and the minds of airlines fleet managers.

What are the specifications of the 787-8?

Passenger capacity: 248 people

Range: 13,530 kilometres

Length: 57 metres

Wingspan: 60m

Height: 17m

Weight: 228 tonnes

Production: As of October 2019, about 29 per cent of 787 orders were for the 787-8, with 366 delivered

The aircraft is 20 per cent more fuel efficient than similar sized commercial jets and is the first of its kind to have a composite fuselage and composite wings.

What makes the plane special?

A British Airways 787 Dreamliner suffered from a nose gear collapse at Heathrow Airport. Photo: @MZulqarnainBut1/Twitter

For passengers the plane has some marketable features:

Electronic glass that is dimmable to five stages of colour and windows that are much bigger than any other plane.

Instead of taking air from outside via the engines, fresh air is drawn directly from outside the aircraft into the air conditioning system.

A much quieter cabin for passenger comfort.

Pilots have computerised head-height displays so they can view the monitors in front of them rather than looking down across the traditional flight deck control panel.

Have there been any other problems?

There were early problems with its lithium-ion batteries causing fires on board but there have been no fatalities.

What happened at Heathrow?

The nose of a BA Dreamliner 787 collapsed on the runway at Heathrow as the cargo aircraft was attached to a gantry walkway.

The plane was stationary at the time of the incident and was carrying freight – no passengers were on board.

The incident happened while the plane was being loaded for a flight to Frankfurt, Germany, having flown in from Moscow two days ago.

Tax authority targets shisha levy evasion

The Federal Tax Authority will track shisha imports with electronic markers to protect customers and ensure levies have been paid.

Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director of the tax authority, on Sunday said the move is to "prevent tax evasion and support the authority’s tax collection efforts".

The scheme’s first phase, which came into effect on 1st January, 2019, covers all types of imported and domestically produced and distributed cigarettes. As of May 1, importing any type of cigarettes without the digital marks will be prohibited.

He said the latest phase will see imported and locally produced shisha tobacco tracked by the final quarter of this year.

"The FTA also maintains ongoing communication with concerned companies, to help them adapt their systems to meet our requirements and coordinate between all parties involved," he said.

As with cigarettes, shisha was hit with a 100 per cent tax in October 2017, though manufacturers and cafes absorbed some of the costs to prevent prices doubling.

Sole survivors

Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.