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BA Flight Fire: Investigators Probe Cause

BA Flight Fire: Investigators Probe Cause

Air accident investigators are probing the reason why a British Airways passenger jet had to make an emergency landing at Heathrow on Friday.

It comes amid reports that a technical fault in the aircraft could be to blame and that a part of the plane fell off soon after take off.

Seventy five passengers and five crew were evacuated safely from Flight BA762 to Oslo, Norway, after it returned to the London hub with one engine on fire.

Both runways at Heathrow were shut for a time after the incident, although they re-opened later.

It led to BA cancelling all short-haul flights until 4pm - affecting the travel plans of thousands of people flying off for the bank holiday weekend and school half-term holidays.

A total of 186 flights were cancelled on Friday but on Saturday, only one BA flight was reported to have been cancelled and most others appeared to be operating normally.

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) could publish an interim report laying out the basic facts quite soon.

The body will take into account not only crew, passenger and eyewitness statements but also data from the flight recorder.

Investigators will look into reports that part of the left-hand engine casing, which was shown to be off after the plane landed, actually detached on take-off.

The two pilots completed the landing on Friday after passengers described how "big flames" were seen coming from the right-hand engine.

The flight had left Heathrow at about 8.16am and had returned to the west London airport shortly after 8.40am.

A picture taken from inside the plane also showed an engine cover on the left-hand engine had come loose, indicating that that engine, too, had been damaged.

Birdstrike has also been suggested as a possible cause of the crash.

London Ambulance staff said it had treated three people for minor injuries.

Footage broadcast on Sky News showed smoke billowing from one of the engines of the aircraft and then, later, passengers walking calmly away from the plane having come down the chutes.

British Airways said this morning that there was a backlog at Heathrow caused by the disruption and they were working though it.

"It is busy," a spokesman said.

"Obviously the May Bank Holiday and the start of half-term is one of the busiest weekends of the year.

"There is a backlog and we are working our way through it."