Heathrow shut after Boeing Dreamliner 787 fire
No passengers were on board at the time of the fire
Runways at London’s Heathrow airport have closed after a fire on a parked Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 787 Dreamliner jet.
Arrivals and departures were suspended after the incident at 16:30 BST, a spokesman for the airport said. No passengers were aboard at the time.
Fifty Dreamliners worldwide were grounded in January because of battery malfunctions.
Boeing later modified the jets with new batteries and flights resumed in April.
An Ethiopian Airlines Dreamliner named the Queen of Sheba – the same plane involved in the Heathrow incident – flew from Addis Ababa to Nairobi on the first commercial flight since the grounding.
Pictures of the Heathrow fire on Twitter show an aircraft close to a building and surrounded by fire vehicles. London Fire Brigade said its crews were standing by to assist Heathrow staff.
Fire-retardant foam appeared to have been sprayed at the airliner, but no damage to the aircraft was immediately apparent.
Production difficulties
A Heathrow spokesman said: “We can confirm there has been an on-board internal fire involving an Ethiopian Airlines aircraft and the airport’s emergency services are in attendance.
“The aircraft was parked on a remote parking stand. There were no passengers on board and there are no reported injuries at this time
“Arrivals and departures are temporarily suspended while airport fire crews attend to this incident. This is a standard procedure if fire crews are occupied with an incident.”
The airport is advising passengers to check the status of their flights with the airlines.
The Metropolitan Police said: “Police at Heathrow were alerted to a fire on a plane. Emergency services are in attendance.
“At this time it is believed no one was on board and there are no reports of any injuries. The fire is being treated as unexplained.”
The Dreamliner’s battery problems followed production difficulties for the aircraft, marketed as a quiet, fuel-efficient aircraft carrying between 201 and 290 passengers on medium-range routes.
It was due to enter passenger service in 2008 but it was not until October 2011 that the first commercial flight was operated by Japan’s All Nippon Airways.
British Airways is due to take delivery of the first two of its 24 Dreamliners, and Virgin Atlantic is to get the first of its 16 Dreamliners in September 2014.
A Boeing spokesman said: “We’re aware of the event. We have Boeing personnel on the ground at Heathrow and are working to fully understand and address this.”
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