Boeing has called on airlines around the world to carry out fresh inspections on airplanes following a fire on a 787 Dreamliner jet parked at Heathrow airport earlier this month.

The airline manufacturer asked carries to look at a transmitter used to locate aircraft after a crash – the Emergency Locator Transmitter.

A UK regulator had recommended the inspection after the fire broke out.

Boeing said it had asked operators of 717, Next-Generation 737, 747-400, 767 and 777 airplanes to inspect aircraft.

“We are taking this action following the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch Special Bulletin, which recommended that airplane models with fixed Honeywell ELTs be inspected,” Randy Tinseth, vice president marketing for Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said in a blog post.

“The purpose of these inspections is to gather data to support potential rulemaking by regulators.”

In a statement, the AAIB had said that the component needed more “airworthiness action”.

It had said that “it was not clear whether the combustion in the area of the ELT was initiated by a release of energy within the batteries or by an external mechanism such as an electrical short”.