Heathrow Airport Runways Closed After Parked Jet Catches Fire, No Immediate Casualties Reported

UPDATE 1:14 p.m. EDT: Heathrow airport authorities have re-opened both runways, after briefly closing them because of a fire at a parked Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The aircraft was not parked near a terminal when the fire ignited. No injuries have been reported.

UPDATE 1:06 p.m. EDT: London's Heathrow airport, the world's busiest international hub, was closed Thursday evening after a parked Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 787 Dreamliner jet caught fire, the BBC reported. There were no passengers on the aircraft at the time of the blaze and no reported injuries.

Authorities closed both runways and dispatched emergency crews that sprayed the Dreamliner, named the Queen of Sheba, with fire-retardant foam. Officials did not immediately report any casualties, but confirmed the incident, according to the BBC.

"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," a Heathrow spokesman said. "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."

The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) issued the following statement, according to the Wall Street Journal, on its Twitter account shortly after the incident was reported: "We're aware of the 787 event @HeathrowAirport and have Boeing personnel there. We're working to fully understand and address this."

Boeing shares -- which had hit an all-time high of $108.15 earlier in the day -- plunged 7 percent shortly after the incident, which occurred around noon New York time. The plunge in Boeing shares dragged down the broader stock market. At 1 p.m. EDT the S&P 500 stock index fell from 1,677 to 1,672 before beginning to pare the loss.