By Alastair Jamieson, Staff writer, NBC News
LONDON - Boeing's ill-fated 787 Dreamliner was involved in another incident Friday when a jet caught fire at London's Heathrow airport, forcing the closure of both runways for more than an hour.
There were no passengers on board the Ethiopian Airlines plane, which was parked away from terminal buildings, but news of the incident caused shares in the Chicago-based manufacturer to tumble.
The aircraft type has been plagued by problems with its batteries. Regulators in the U.S. and Japan temporarily grounded the Dreamliner earlier this year amid fears of fires linked to the batteries.
Pictures showed new plane involved in Friday's fire covered in fire-retardant foam.
Advertise | AdChoicesAn airport spokesman said: "We can confirm there has been an on-board internal fire involving an Ethiopian Airlines aircraft and the airport's emergency services are in attendance.
"The aircraft was parked on a remote parking stand. There were no passengers on board and there are no reported injuries at this time."
In a statement posted on Twitter, Boeing said: "We’re aware of the 787 event @HeathrowAirport and have Boeing personnel there. We're working to fully understand and address this."
We’re aware of the 787 event @HeathrowAirport and have Boeing personnel there. We're working to fully understand and address this.
— Boeing Airplanes (@BoeingAirplanes) July 12, 2013The aircraft was not blocking either runway, but with all the airport's fire crews tacking the Boeing 787 incident, authorities were forced to suspend all departures and arrivals because of safety rules.
Although the runways later reopened, major ongoing delays were expected for travelers using the airport, which is the world's busiest in terms of international passenger traffic.