The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating why debris fell from an engine on a new Boeing 787 Dreamliner during a preflight test Saturday in South Carolina, Boeing officials said Sunday.


Metal debris fell into grass at Charleston International Airport, causing a fire and shutting down the commercial airport for more than an hour.


Boeing, which had just built the plane at a factory in the Charleston area, said in a statement that it and General Electric, which made the engine, were “working closely” with the safety board to examine the incident.


“We are unaware of any operational issue that would present concerns about the continued safe operation of in-service 787s powered by G.E. engines,” Boeing said. “However, should the investigation determine a need to act, Boeing has the processes in place to take action and will do so appropriately.”


Boeing officials would not provide any more details of the incident. Officials at the safety board could not immediately be reached for comment.


The incident occurred less than a week after All Nippon Airways, a Japanese airline, grounded five Boeing 787 Dreamliners after it found corrosion in gearbox parts. All Nippon was the first airline to fly the more fuel-efficient Dreamliners, which have lightweight skins made of carbon composites instead of aluminum.


The engines were made by Rolls-Royce, which has been replacing the parts. Some of the planes are flying again, and Boeing has said that the rest should be flying this week.


Boeing, based in Chicago, suffered through years of delays and cost overruns in creating the planes, which are the first passenger models to make substantial use of carbon composites.


But it had recently begun to increase its deliveries of the planes. Analysts expect sales of the 787 to help Boeing pass Europe’s Airbus to again become the world’s top seller of commercial planes.


Boeing makes the planes in Everett, Wash., and at a new plant in North Charleston. The problem on Saturday involved the second Dreamliner built at that plant, and the plane was not yet painted in an airline’s colors.


According to The Post and Courier, the Charleston newspaper that first reported the incident, emergency crews discovered debris on the approach to the airport’s only operational runway and ordered it shut down. Two commercial flights were diverted to other airports.