Blaze breaks out on British Airways plane

Five firefighters were injured battling a blaze aboard a British Airways plane early today.

The fire was discovered shortly after London-to-Boston flight 239 landed at Logan International Airport.

The firefighters complained of burning in their throats and eyes, MassPort spokesman Phil Orlandella said.

The captain of the London-to-Boston Flight 239 called the Logan control tower after it landed at around 9.30pm yesterday local time (2.30am today, Irish time) and said a cockpit indicator showed a fire in the avionics compartment on the underside of the plane.

There were 219 passengers and 14 crew members aboard. None were injured, Orlandella said.

“They were already de-planing when this fire happened,” Orlandella said.

A British Airways spokeswoman said the airline was investigating and could not comment further.

The fire’s cause was not immediately known, and it was unclear what substance might have caused the firefighters’ injuries.

"There was never any threat to the airplane while it was flying," British Airways spokesman John Lampl said. ''There was no threat to the passengers' security.''

It was unclear what caused the fire, but it had “nothing to do with terrorism”, Orlandella said.

The avionics compartment has instruments that help the pilots steer and fly the aircraft, including the radio and compass, Lampl said.