Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 787 catches fire at London airport

A fire on an empty Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane forced Heathrow Airport to close both its runways Friday afternoon, temporarily suspending all arrivals and departures.

There were no passengers aboard the Ethiopian Airlines plane at the time of the incident, according to the London airport.

Television images showed nearly a dozen fire trucks on the scene, and fire-retardant foam appeared to surround the jet, which was parked on a remote stand. They also seemed to show damage to the top of the jet?s fuselage near its green, yellow and red tailfin.

That suggests the incident was unrelated to the pair of smoky battery incidents in January that grounded the global 787 fleet. In those incidents, one on the ground in Boston and one in the air over Japan, the damage was to the bottom side of the jet, toward the middle and front of the fuselage.

The Ethiopian 787 in question is one of four that Boeing has delivered to the African airline as of last month, all from its 787 factory complex in Everett, Wash.

Boeing also makes 787s in North Charleston. This 787 did not undergo final assembly or delivery in North Charleston, but as with all 787s, its aft-fuselage section was made here and its mid-body was assembled here.

Boeing released a statement on Twitter shortly after the incident was reported.

?We?re aware of the 787 event @HeathrowAirport and have Boeing personnel there,? the statement said. ?We?re working to fully understand and address this.?

The incident is likely to put pressure back on the Chicago-based aerospace giant, which seemed to be moving past the troubles it had with the 787?s lithium-ion battery in the first half of the year.

According to reports, the plane was the first 787 to resume flights after the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration lifted its grounding order in April.

Boeing shares fell as much as 7 percent on the news before rebounding.

Meanwhile, the British airport had re-opened its runways by 6 p.m. BST - 1 p.m. EST- the airport reported on Twitter.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.lowcountryclassifieds.com/article/20130712/PC05/130719801/ethiopian-airlines-boeing-787-catches-fire-at-london-airport&source=RSS

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