Boeing 787 completes first test flight since its grounding

On Saturday, the Boeing Co.’s 787 had an “uneventful” test flight, the Dreamliner’s first since its Jan. 16 grounding by federal authorities.

The Federal Aviation Administration on Thursday gave the OK for Boeing to take the 787 up on a test flight in order to gather data on the jet’s batteries.

The two hour, 19 minute flight was “uneventful,” Marc Birtel, a Boeing spokesman, said in a statement.

Boeing used the fifth test 787 of its fleet of test jets, which the company used to gain FAA certification on the Dreamliner.

The FAA grounded the 787 after two Dreamliner aircraft experienced battery failures within two weeks in January.

Boeing officials say they’ve got engineers and experts working around the clock to solve the problem and return the Dreamliner to commercial flight.

The flight test 787, known as ZA005, took off at 12:32 p.m. Saturday from Boeing Field in Seattle. It returned at 2:51 p.m. Boeing had 13 crew members on board.

During the flight, the crew members monitored performance of the main and auxiliary power unit’s lithium-ion batteries. The company said it couldn’t share detailed information about the batteries’ performance, as federal authorities still are investigating the January battery failures.

Boeing does not plan to fly the 787 on Sunday, Birtel wrote in the emailed statement. But the company will resume test flights early this coming week.