FAA orders review of Boeing's new Dreamliner

The Federal Aviation Administration says the review will include the design, manufacture and assembly of the aircraft.

Officials plan to detail the review at a news conference Friday in Washington, D.C., attended by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, FAA Administrator Michael Huerta, and Ray Conner, the president and CEO of Boeing.

The 787, which Boeing calls the "Dreamliner," relies more than any other modern airliner on electrical signals to help power nearly everything the plane does. It's also the first Boeing plane to use rechargeable lithium ion batteries, which charge faster and can be molded to space-saving shapes compared to other airplane batteries. The plane is made with lightweight composite materials instead of aluminum.

The FAA statement gave no indication that the agency intends to limit or prohibit the 787 from flying during the review.

A Boeing official said the company is working with the FAA.

"We are absolutely confident in the reliability and performance of the 787," Boeing spokesman Marc Birtel said. "We are working with the FAA and our customers to ensure we thoroughly understand any introductory issues that arise. While we take each issue seriously, nothing we've seen in service causes us to doubt the capabilities of the airplane."

A fire ignited Monday in the battery pack of an auxiliary power unit of a Japan Airlines 787 empty of passengers.

On Friday Japan's All Nippon Airways reported two new cases of problems with the aircraft. ANA spokeswoman Ayumi Kunimatsu said a very small amount of oil was discovered leaking from the left engine of a 787 flight from southern Japan's Miyazaki airport to Tokyo.

The jet returned to Miyazaki, but after checks found no safety risk it flew to Tokyo. ANA said on another flight, to Matsuyama on the island of Shikoku, glass in a cockpit window cracked and the aircraft was grounded for repairs.

National Transportation Safety Board investigators traced the fire to a battery in the plane's auxiliary power unit, typically used to provide heating and cooling when the airplane is on the ground.

In a statement, Boeing said, "Nothing that we've seen in this case indicates a relationship to any previous 787 power system events."

Last month, a United Airlines 787 flight made an emergency landing in New Orleans after false warnings from an electrical panel.

"Every new airplane has growing pains," said Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, a CBS News aviation and safety expert. "Especially those that push the edge of the envelope in technology."

He told "CBS This Morning" that these kinds of problems are normal for new aircraft.

"If you look at the history of aviation, decades ago, new airplanes had many more issues and they often led to fatal results," he said. "Now we catch these problems much earlier."