Has Boeing's Dreamliner become a nightmare?

Shares of Boeing (BA) fell 2.6% Tuesday amid new questions about the safety and reliability of its much-hyped 787 Dreamliner, which began flying last year after nearly four years of delays.

According to a Boeing statement, smoke found Monday during the cleaning of a Japan Airlines 787 was traced to the battery used to start the auxiliary power unit. The company is cooperating with an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board. 

In a separate incident Monday, another JAL Dreamliner reported an electric fire. Tuesday, a JAL 787 was forced to cancel its takeoff and return to the gate after a fuel leak was discovered. The incidents happened on three different planes, according to Reuters.
 
"As is standard practice within the industry, it would be premature to discuss additional details at this stage as the investigation is ongoing," the company said about the electrical fire incident. "However, nothing that we’ve seen in this case indicates a relationship to any previous 787 power system events, which involved power panel faults elsewhere in the aft electrical equipment bay."

They are the latest in a litany of woes affecting the 787. The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that United found that the wiring was installed incorrectly on one of its Dreamliners.  Indeed, the aircraft's development has been anything but a dream. Japan's All Nippon Airways, which received the first Dreamliner deliveries last year, was forced to temporarily ground the aircraft in July after engine problems were discovered, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Airlines were attracted to the Dreamliner because Boeing boasted that it could cut fuel costs by as much as 20%. Jet fuel is, not surprisingly, huge portion of an airline's costs. The Dreamliner has many fans. It is the first airliner built with carbon-reinforced composite plastics instead of metal, which help it fly faster and further using less fuel than more conventional aircraft.

"Pilots who strap into Boeing's new 787 most likely will conclude that it is the easiest to fly and most intuitive jetliner ever built by the Seattle-based manufacturer, based upon our findings during a demo flight in mid-November," wrote Fred George in Aviation Week.

Whether the dream will match the reality of the 787 remains to be seen. A Boeing spokeswoman declined to comment beyond the company's statement.

--Jonathan Berr does not own shares of the listed stocks. Follow him on Twitter @jdberr.

More on Money Now

• China food probe slams KFC's parent
• Can Eddie Lampert save Sears?
• Allstate tries to fix a public relations blunder