Heathrow had to close both runways today (May 24) as a British Airways aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing.
The flight (BA 762) from Heathrow to Oslo had to turn back to the airport shortly after take-off at around 08.45 due to a “technical fault” with eye witnesses saying they saw smoke coming from one of the aircraft’s engines.
The incident forced BA to cancel all short-haul flights to and from Heathrow until 16.00 on Friday.
The airline said in a statement: "The closure of one runway meant that we needed to cancel all our short-haul flights in to and out of Heathrow up until 16:00 today. We understand how frustrating this is for customers and thank them for their patience.
"These cancellations will help us to stabilise our schedule, allowing us to get as many customers away as possible in these difficult circumstances."
The Airbus 319 carrying 75 passengers landed safely on Heathrow’s northern runway and everybody onboard was evacuated using the aircraft's emergency slides. There were no reports of any injuries to passengers or crew.
British Airways said: “The BA762, Heathrow to Oslo service, returned back to Heathrow shortly after take-off due to a technical fault.
“The aircraft landed safely and emergency slides were deployed, we are currently caring for our customers. Emergency services attended the aircraft. We will be carrying out a full investigation into the incident.”
The southern runway was reopened shortly after the incident although the northern runway was closed for a longer period - it reopened just after 11.00.
Heathrow said in a statement: “Heathrow is now fully operational and the airport is returning to normal. All passengers and crew were safely evacuated from the aircraft.
"There may be some disruption throughout the day and passengers are advised to check the flight status with their airline before travelling to the airport."
heathrowairport.com
britishairways.com