Heathrow had to close both runways today as a British Airways aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing.
The BA 762 flight from Heathrow to Oslo turned back to the airport shortly after take-off at around 0900 due to a "technical fault" with smoke coming from one of the aircraft’s engines.
The Airbus 319 carrying 75 passengers landed safely on Heathrow’s northern runway and everybody onboard was evacuated using emergency slides.
British Airways has cancelled all short-haul flights at LHR until 1600.
A spokesperson for the airline 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 has remained closed.
Heathrow said in a statement: "The northern runway is currently closed following an earlier aircraft incident. All passengers and crew have been safely evacuated from the aircraft. There are no reported injuries. The southern runway was closed for a short period and has now reopened.
"Our teams are working with the emergency services to reopen the northern runway as quickly as possible. The temporary closure is likely to result in a number of cancelled flights throughout the day and passengers are advised to check the flight status with their airline before travelling to the airport."
For more information, visit heathrowairport.com and britishairways.com.
Report by Rob Gill
