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| Boeing 787 Catches Fire at Heathrow | Boeing 787 Catches Fire at Heathrow |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| An internal fire broke out on Friday on a Boeing 787 that Ethiopian Airlines had parked between flights at London’s Heathrow Airport, the airport said. | An internal fire broke out on Friday on a Boeing 787 that Ethiopian Airlines had parked between flights at London’s Heathrow Airport, the airport said. |
| The plane was in a remote area, and no passengers were on board. But a Heathrow spokesman said the airport temporarily suspended arrivals and departures for all other flights while fire crews responded to the incident. | The plane was in a remote area, and no passengers were on board. But a Heathrow spokesman said the airport temporarily suspended arrivals and departures for all other flights while fire crews responded to the incident. |
| Boeing said it was aware of the problem, but neither the airport nor Boeing provided any information about the cause of the fire. | Boeing said it was aware of the problem, but neither the airport nor Boeing provided any information about the cause of the fire. |
| Television images showed fire trucks around the plane, and fire-retardant foam appeared to have been applied, The Associated Press reported. | |
| In another incident on Friday, Thomson Airways said one of its Boeing 787 Dreamliner planes traveling from England to Florida had to turn back after experiencing a technical issue, according to The Associated Press. | |
| Thomson, a British charter airline, said that Flight 126 traveling from Manchester Airport to Sanford, Fla., had returned to Manchester “as a precautionary measure.” | |
| It said all passengers had left the plane and engineers were inspecting it. | |
| The incidents took place about seven weeks after the innovative 787 Dreamliners returned to the skies after being grounded for four months because of hazards with a new type of battery. One of the lithium-ion batteries caught fire on a 787 parked at a Boston airport on Jan. 9, and another began smoking in midflight a week later, forcing the 787 to make an emergency landing in Japan. | |
| Regulators lifted the grounding orders after Boeing came up with a plan to refit the first 50 to 60 of the new jets with more insulation between the battery cells and a new system for venting smoke or hazardous gases out of the planes. Boeing said that while the planes were grounded, it also had made changes in electrical panels that had failed on occasion since the planes were introduced into service in late 2011. | Regulators lifted the grounding orders after Boeing came up with a plan to refit the first 50 to 60 of the new jets with more insulation between the battery cells and a new system for venting smoke or hazardous gases out of the planes. Boeing said that while the planes were grounded, it also had made changes in electrical panels that had failed on occasion since the planes were introduced into service in late 2011. |
| Aviation analysts said the battery problems had cost Boeing hundreds of millions of dollars and slowed its progress in fielding the planes, which reduce fuel costs by 20 percent and have been in great demand by the airlines. | Aviation analysts said the battery problems had cost Boeing hundreds of millions of dollars and slowed its progress in fielding the planes, which reduce fuel costs by 20 percent and have been in great demand by the airlines. |
| “We can confirm there has been an onboard internal fire involving an Ethiopian Airlines aircraft and the airport’s emergency services are in attendance,” the statement from Heathrow Airport said on Friday. “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.” | “We can confirm there has been an onboard internal fire involving an Ethiopian Airlines aircraft and the airport’s emergency services are in attendance,” the statement from Heathrow Airport said on Friday. “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.” |
| Runways were reopened a short time later. | Runways were reopened a short time later. |
| “We’re aware of the event,” said Marc R. Birtel, a Boeing spokesman. “We have Boeing personnel on the ground at Heathrow and are working to fully understand and address this.” | “We’re aware of the event,” said Marc R. Birtel, a Boeing spokesman. “We have Boeing personnel on the ground at Heathrow and are working to fully understand and address this.” |
| Boeing’s stock, which had rallied in recent months, was down about 6 percent, to around $100 a share, immediately following the report. |