Fire engines have been called to meet a British Airways flight at Heathrow, two days after an engine on a BA jet burst into flames in Las Vegas.
Flight BA292 from Dulles airport near Washington DC reported a technical issue and landed at 10.38am, two minutes earlier than scheduled, in what was described by Heathrow as a full emergency.
An airport spokeswoman said: “The flight came down with a technical issue but came in absolutely fine. The aeroplane is back on its stand. The fact that fire engines met it is standard when a technical issue is reported. It doesn’t mean there was a fire. It wasn’t a Las Vegas situation.”
#britishairways plane getting towed off runway 09R at Heathrow with fire engines. not such a good week for #BA pic.twitter.com/t5Su92AMy4
— Felix Macpherson (@wildcombination) September 11, 2015
The Las Vegas fire led to 57 passengers and 13 crew being evacuated from the plane as it sat on the runway at McCarran airport. The pilot, Chris Henkey, from Reading, Berkshire, was applauded for his “textbook response” to the crisis. An investigation is under way.
A BA spokesman said of Friday’s incident: “The flight crew requested a priority landing as a precaution, and the aircraft landed safely. The safety of our customers and crew is always our main concern and our highly trained pilots will never compromise this. We are sorry for the delay to our customers’ journeys.”
