Ethiopian Airlines issues a statement about their B787 incident at London Heathrow Airport: Today on Friday, 12 July 2013, smoke was detected from Ethiopian Airlines B787 aircraft with registration number ET-AOP, which was parked at London Heathrow airport for more than eight hours.
The aircraft was empty when the incident was observed.
The cause of the incident is under investigation by all concerned.
Further statement will be issued in due course, as we receive more information.
London’s Heathrow airport closed to flights following a fire involving a Boeing Co. (BA) 787 jet operated by Ethiopian Airlines Enterprise, while a second Dreamliner was forced to abandon a trip with technical issues. Shares of the U.S. planemaker had their biggest drop in almost two years.
The aircraft, Boeing’s newest model and beset by battery-related fire incidents that grounded the global fleet earlier this year, was sprayed with fire-retardant foam after the Heathrow event. No one was on board and there were no injuries.
Takeoffs and landings were suspended at Europe’s busiest hub for about an hour while emergency services attended the jet, before flights resumed later with significant delays. The cause of the fire is unknown, Heathrow Ltd. (FER) said on its Twitter feed, with television pictures appearing to show damage on the rear upper fuselage close to the aircraft’s tail.
“We’re aware of the 787 event at Heathrow airport and have Boeing personnel there,” the Chicago-based company said via Twitter, adding that it had sent people to the scene. “We’re working to fully understand and address this.”
Ethiopian Air said the aircraft had been parked at Heathrow for more than eight hours before smoke was detected. “The cause of the incident is under investigation by all concerned,” Henok Teferra, a spokesman for the carrier, said in a text message.
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