Airbus Updates No.1011

BRITISH AIRWAYS AIRBUS A319 EMERGENCY LANDING AT LONDON HEATHROW

FOLLOWING NEWS ARTICLE AS REPORTED ON SKYNEWS

G-EUOE Airbus A319-131 c/n 1574

Plane 'On Fire' Flying Over Central London

Eyewitnesses report flames coming from a plane as it flew over London to land at Heathrow Airport.

10:24am UK, Friday 24 May 2013

Video: Witnesses Saw Flames From BA Plane (Pic: Baba Sariffodeen)

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  Both runways were shut at Heathrow Airport where a British Airways aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing due to an "aircraft fire".
  

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  The incident is not thought to be terror related and all passengers are safe.
  

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  A statement from British Airways said: "The BA762, Heathrow to Oslo service, returned back to Heathrow shortly after take-off due to a technical fault."
  

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  BA continued: "Emergency services attended the aircraft. We will be carrying out a full investigation into the incident."
  

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  This image shared on Twitter by David Gallagher appears to show the engine that was not on fire exposed.
  

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  This image taken by Sara Dawson shows the plane on fire as it flew over London.
  

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Gallery: Emergency Landing At Heathrow

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A plane was "on fire" flying over central London an eyewitness has said.

Jamie told Sky News: "As you looked up you could just see the flames being chucked out of the engine ... It was on full fire when we saw it."
Both runways were shut at Heathrow Airport where the British Airways aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing due to an "aircraft fire."

What appears to be damage to one of plane's engines

Clive Cook, who lives under the flight path, told Sky News: "The actual engine itself was on fire.
"This plane was coming over and suddenly the tone of the engine changed dramatically, and I could almost say it sounded as if it was like a blowout, or an explosion."

Emergency chutes seen coming from the plane (Credit: David Gallagher)

The incident is not thought to be terror related and all passengers are safe.
Sky News presenter Jeremy Thompson was on a different flight coming into Heathrow and said that the pilot told them that they were being held up by a "bird strike" on a plane.

Emergency services inspect the Bitish Airways aircraft

A statement from British Airways said: "The BA762, Heathrow to Oslo service, returned back to Heathrow shortly after take-off due to a technical fault.
"The Airbus A319 aircraft was carrying 75 customers. The aircraft landed safely and emergency slides were deployed and we are currently caring for our customers.
"Emergency services attended the aircraft. We will be carrying out a full investigation into the incident."

The other engine seen from inside the plane (Credit: David Gallagher)

One picture shared on Twitter appears to show the engine that was not on fire exposed as it is overworked.
The plane landed on the northern runway which remains shut but the southern runway has now been reopened.
Travel expert, Simon Calder, said: "There is now massive disruption at Heathrow."
He added that British Airways planes coming into land have been diverted to Cardiff, Stansted and even Manston Airport in Kent.