MYNORTHWEST NEWS

NTSB to investigate Boeing 787 Dreamliner fire at London’s Heathrow Airport

Jul 12, 2013, 9:29 AM | Updated: May 13, 2016, 11:00 pm

General view of the Air Ethiopian Boeing 787 Dreamliner 'Queen of Sheba' aeroplane, on the runway near Terminal 3, at Heathrow Airport, London, Friday July 12, 2013. Two Boeing 787 Dreamliner planes ran into trouble in England on Friday, with a fire on one temporarily shutting down Heathrow Airport and an unspecified technical issue forcing another to turn back to Manchester Airport. The incidents are unwelcome news for Chicago-based Boeing Co., whose Dreamliners were cleared to fly again in April after a four-month grounding due to concerns about overheating batteries. The fire at Heathrow involved an empty Ethiopian Airlines plane, which was parked at a remote stand of the airport after arriving at the airport. British police said the fire is being treated as unexplained, and that there were no passengers on board at the time of the fire. (AP Photo/Anthony Devlin/PA) Passengers queue outside Terminal 3 at Heathrow Airport in London, Friday, July 12, 2013. Air Ethiopian Boeing 787 Dreamliner 'Queen of Sheba' aeroplane caught fire earlier Friday forcing Heathrow Airport to close to all air traffic for an hour during the incident. The cause of the fire on the Ethiopian Airlines plane, which broke out more than 8 hours after it had landed in London, remained under investigation. The location of the fire led some experts to surmise it wasn't the planes lithium-ion batteries. Meanwhile, an unspecified mechanical issue caused another 787 flown by Thomson Airways to return to Manchester Airport, adding to concerns about the plane. (AP Photo/Sang Tan) General view of the Air Ethiopian Boeing 787 Dreamliner 'Queen of Sheba' aeroplane, on the runway near Terminal 3, at Heathrow Airport, London, Friday July 12, 2013. Two Boeing 787 Dreamliner planes ran into trouble in England on Friday, with a fire on one temporarily shutting down Heathrow Airport and an unspecified technical issue forcing another to turn back to Manchester Airport. The incidents are unwelcome news for Chicago-based Boeing Co., whose Dreamliners were cleared to fly again in April after a four-month grounding due to concerns about overheating batteries. The fire at Heathrow involved an empty Ethiopian Airlines plane, which was parked at a remote stand of the airport after arriving at the airport. British police said the fire is being treated as unexplained, and that there were no passengers on board at the time of the fire. (AP Photo/Sang Tan)

A fire on an empty Boeing 787 Dreamliner forced Heathrow Airport in London to temporarily close both its runways Friday.

There were no passengers on board the Ethiopian Airlines jetliner. Heathrow reports the aircraft was parked in an area away from the terminals and the suspension of incoming and outgoing flights is standard if fire crews are occupied with an incident.

Television images showed nearly a dozen fire trucks on the scene at Heathrow and firefighters standing around the Ethiopian Airlines plane. Fire-retardant foam appeared to have been sprayed, and it was not immediately clear if there was damage to the plane.

Boeing tweeted that they are aware of the incident and have Boeing personnel there.

“We’re working to fully understand and address this,” Boeing said.

British police said the fire aboard the plane is being treated as unexplained.

The National Transportation Safety Board said they are sending an accredited representative to London-Heathrow to assist in the investigation.

The 787, which Boeing calls the Dreamliner, is under unusual scrutiny because it was grounded worldwide for four months after lithium-ion batteries overheated on two of the jets. One caught fire at Boston’s Logan airport.

The planes resumed flying in April after Boeing made redesigns to the battery system that were approved by global aviation regulators. Ethiopian was the first airline to resume using the 787.

The Dreamliner is Boeing’s most technologically advanced airliner, with lightweight materials and other innovations designed to boost fuel efficiency. The fuel efficiency makes it suited for long flights including international routes.

The 787 is assembled at Boeing plants in Everett and North Charleston, S.C.

Shares of Boeing dropped almost 5 percent Friday after an empty 787 experienced a fire at Heathrow Airport.

Boeing shares fell $5.01, or 4.7 percent, to $101.87 in trading Friday. The shares earlier dropped as low as $98.99.

Shares of Boeing suppliers also fell. Precision Castparts fell $3.49, or 1.5 percent, to $233.78. Spirit Aerosystems, which also makes parts for the 787, fell 48 cents, or 2.1 percent, to $22.65.

Another Boeing 787 reportedly also experienced a tech issue on Friday.

Thomson Airways says one of its Boeing 787 Dreamliner planes traveling from England to the U.S. had to turn back after experiencing a technical issue.

Thomson said that flight 126 traveling from Manchester Airport to Sanford, Florida had returned to Manchester “as a precautionary measure.”

It said all passengers had disembarked from the plane and engineers are inspecting the aircraft.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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