An investigation into a fire at Gatwick airport last year has shown the incident was caused when the co-pilot confused his left and right hands.
On June 28, 2024, the British Airways flight BA2279 aborted its take off ahead of its journey from London Gatwick to Vancouver due to hot brakes.
The Air Accident Investigation Branch has now confirmed that the co-pilot “unintentionally” moved the wrong hand on the wrong control.
It was this “action slip” that resulted in a brake fire and forced the pilot to emergency stop at speeds of more than 190mph on the runway.
The confusion reduced the Boeing 777 aircraft's thrust at a time when the aircraft's commander called for the plane to start pulling up - before the pilot accelerated again, the AAIB said.
The investigation added that at this point, the captain stepped in to bring the plane to a halt and alert air traffic control.
None of the 347 passengers or crew on board were injured. At the time, the experienced co-pilot said he was “well-rested and feeling fine”, unable to identify a reason why the incident occurred.
Following the incident, Gatwick Airport’s main runway was temporarily closed. Around 16 inbound flights were diverted and a further 23 were cancelled.
Airport firefighting crews were called to put out a fire on the right-hand landing gear.
Whilst at the time, the airline said the fire was a technical issue, a spokesperson from British Airways has said: “Safety is always our highest priority and our pilots brought the aircraft to a safe stop.
“We apologised to our customers and our teams worked hard to get them on their way as quickly as possible.”
