( CNN ) -- A Boeing 787 Dreamliner -- the model grounded last month amid concerns over fire risk -- is being allowed a one-time , special flight Thursday , the Federal Aviation Administration says . The 787 took off around 10:25 a.m. ( 9:25 a.m. CT ) from Fort Worth , Texas , bound for Everett , Washington . The plane was in Texas for a paint job , Boeing spokesman Marc Birtel said . A federal probe into electrical fires led to the grounding of all 50 Boeing 787 Dreamliners around the world last month . Dreamliner battery type requires safeguards , safety advocate says . Two recent incidents -- a fire aboard a Japan Airlines aircraft at Boston 's Logan International Airport on January 7 and a smoke alarm aboard a plane flying over Japan on January 16 -- prompted the FAA to ground all Dreamliners in the United States , and other nations quickly followed suit . Last month , the National Transportation Safety Board said federal investigators had not been able to determine the causes of fires in two plane batteries or the electrical shorts that occurred . The NTSB said it was trying to determine which problem happened first and caused the other . With the exception of Thursday 's `` ferry flight , '' the $ 200 million planes remain grounded until the manufacturer can demonstrate that the problem is fixed and the plane safe to fly . Japan 's ANA replaced faulty batteries on Dreamliner last year . FAA spokeswoman Brie Sachse said the special flight Thursday must adhere to certain conditions : . -- Before flight , the crew must perform inspections to verify that the batteries and cables show no signs of damage . -- The pre-flight checklist must include a mandatory check for specific status messages that could indicate possible battery problems . -- The plane must fly directly from Fort Worth to Everett . -- While airborne , the crew must continuously monitor the flight computer for battery related messages and land immediately if one occurs . Only the people needed to operate the flight will be on board , Sachse said . What 's wrong with the Dreamliner ? CNN 's Charles Riley , Yoko Wakatsuki and Paul Armstrong contributed to this report .
A 787 that was in Texas for a paint job will return to Washington Thursday . Only the crew needed to operate the flight will be on board , the FAA says . The plane is expected to land at Reagan National Airport around noon ET and take off again about 2 p.m. ET.