Meggitt subsidiary supplied battery charger unit to Boeing's Dreamliners

Aerospace components engineer Meggitt is the ultimate owner of a company which provided battery charger units for Boeing's now grounded Dreamliner air fleet.

In 2011, FTSE 100-listed Meggitt acquired Pacific Scientific, which also included the purchase of a company called Securaplane Technologies.

Securaplane Tehnologies' website currently states: "Securaplane has pioneered lithium battery technology on commercial fixed and rotor wing applications, producing the charger for the lithium main ship batteries on the Boeing 787 and the aircraft's wireless emergency lighting system."

The lithium-ion batteries used in Boeing's Dreamliners have come under intense public scrutiny in recent days after America's Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued an emergency directive which grounded all Boeing 787s operated by American airlines until the aerospace company could prove the batteries were safe.

"Before further flight, operators of US-registered Boeing 787 aircraft must demonstrate to the Federal Aviation Administration that the batteries are safe," the administration stated.

"The battery failures resulted in the release of flammable electrolytes, heat damage and smoke on two 787 airplanes. The root cause of these failures is under investigation. These conditions, if not corrected, could result in damage to critical systems and structures and the potential for fire in the electrical compartment," the statement continued.

In spite of probing questions, neither the FAA nor other aviation regulators have squarely pointed the finger of blame on lithium ion batteries or their chargers and other possibilities remain with regard to the cause of the aircraft problems.

Jefferies: Potential short-term effect on Meggitt share priceSandy Morris, an equity analyst at broker Jefferies weighed in on the subject on Monday pointing out that "it would be premature and quite possibly mistaken to identify lithium-ion battery technology as the villain of the piece".

With regard to any potential impact on Meggitt's share price, Morris added: "It is possible that Meggitt, as supplier of the B787 BCU, will be affected by some negative sentiment in the short-term."

A 787 battery incident occurred on the ground in Boston on January 7th and a separate incident occurred in-flight in Japan on January 16th.

Meggitt's share price was down 2.74% to 425.20p at 09:02 on Monday morning.

MF