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Heathrow reopens after Boeing Dreamliner 787 fire | |
(35 minutes later) | |
Runways at London's Heathrow airport have reopened 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. | 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 after malfunctions with the plane's lithium-ion batteries. | |
Boeing later modified the jets with new batteries and flights resumed in April. | |
The Ethiopian Airlines Dreamliner in the Heathrow incident - named the Queen of Sheba - flew from Addis Ababa to Nairobi on the first commercial flight since the grounding. | |
Pictures of the Heathrow fire showed the Queen of Sheba 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 was immediately apparent. | |
Production difficulties | |
A Heathrow spokesman said: "Heathrow's runways are now fully open following an earlier fire on board an Ethiopian Airlines aircraft which the airport's emergency services attended. | |
"The aircraft was parked on a remote parking stand. There were no passengers on board and there are no reported injuries at this time. | "The aircraft was parked on a remote parking stand. There were no passengers on board and there are no reported injuries at this time. |
"The aircraft was parked on a remote parking stand and there were no passengers on board. Arrivals and departures were temporarily suspended while airport fire crews attended to this incident. | |
"This is a standard procedure if fire crews are occupied with an incident." | |
Heathrow reopened shortly before 18:00 BST but is advising passengers to check the status of their flights with the airlines. | |
Meanwhile, Gatwick airport said it was experiencing minor delays on departing flights as it assisted Heathrow with flights that were diverted. | |
The battery problems followed production difficulties for the Dreamliner, 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. | |
The Dreamliner's electrical system drives air conditioning and hydraulic functions that are run from compressed air on traditional aircrafts. | |
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 planes in September 2014. | |
Boeing shares fell more than 6% on the New York Stock Exchange on news of the fire. | |
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." | |
Send your pictures and videos to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to 61124 (UK) or +44 7624 800 100 (International). If you have a large file you can upload here. | Send your pictures and videos to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to 61124 (UK) or +44 7624 800 100 (International). If you have a large file you can upload here. |
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