Opening date for new Heathrow terminal
Heathrow's new £2.5 billion terminal will open in exactly one year's time, bosses at the UK's biggest airport announced.
BA Engine doors 'left unlatched'
Doors on both engines of the plane in last week's Heathrow emergency landing drama had been left unlatched during maintenance.
Heathrow immigration queues 'unacceptable'
Passengers at Heathrow have told of their frustration, after facing long queues at border control.
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BA 'will not pay compensation' after emergency landing
British Airways (BA) has said that it will not pay compensation to passengers after flights were delayed and some cancelled after the emergency landing of one of its jets at Heathrow Airport last week.
A ruling by the European Court of Justice means that passengers whose journeys are delayed by more than three hours are entitled to compensation.
But the airline has claimed that it is not responsible for the £214 per passenger payment.
BA said the closure of the airport was an "extraordinary circumstance", and therefore it was only liable for providing food and drink, and hotel accommodation where necessary.
About 200 flights were cancelled following the closure of Heathrow on Friday, the majority of which were operated by British Airways (BA).
Read more: Emergency landing at Heathrow disrupts travellers
No BA compensation for flights cancelled after emergency landing
British Airways has said it will not pay compensation to passengers whose flights were delayed or cancelled following the emergency landing of one of its jets at Heathrow Airport last Friday.
Passengers whose journeys are delayed by more than three hours are entitled to compensation following a European Court of Justice ruling.
About 200 flights were cancelled following the closure of Heathrow on Friday, the majority of which were operated by British Airways.
But BA has insisted it is not responsible for £214 per passenger under the EU261 ruling.
It said the closure of the airport was an "extraordinary circumstance", and therefore it was only liable for providing food and drink, and hotel accommodation where necessary.
A BA spokesman said:
"We are very sorry for the disruption thousands of our customers experienced on Friday following the severe air space restrictions after Heathrow was closed for a short while and one of the two runways at the airport was shut for several hours."
He added: "Heathrow operates at maximum capacity and is the world's busiest two-runway airport.
This type of incident at Heathrow, regardless of which airline it involves, will always lead to large numbers of cancellations and delays for British Airways as we are the home-based carrier with 50% of the flights at the airport.
"We did all we could to offer duty of care including giving out refreshments and hotel rooms during Friday.
We do not believe we are liable for further EU261 compensation payments as the closure or restriction of airspace, which led to the cancellations and delays, is defined as an extraordinary circumstance."
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Interim report could be published soon
A full report by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) could be some time away, but the branch could publish an interim report laying out the basic facts quite soon.
The AAIB 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.
One passenger told the online Daily Mail today: "'As the plane started to gather speed on the runway for take-off, the engine casing came loose and started flapping and at the point of take-off it snapped off with a loud bang."
"On the descent back into Heathrow the right engine burst into flames, creating an orange glow visible throughout the cabin. People were relatively calm until the engine blew and then started to panic."
Latest advice for Heathrow passengers
Heathrow is now fully operational but experiencing some delays. The airport advises passengers to check with airlines before travelling to the airport.
British Airways gives the following advise to its passengers:
If your flight has been cancelled, please try rebooking on http://t.co/oRKt3apWw6
From @British_Airways on Twitter:We're experiencing a high volume of calls. Please only contact us if your flight has been cancelled & you're unable to change it online
From @British_Airways on Twitter:If you booked your flight or holiday with a travel agent, please contact them directly to change
From @British_Airways on Twitter:Aircraft was powered by just one engine
Pictures taken from inside the plane in today's incident showed an inspection cover loose on the left-hand engine.
Aviation expert David Learmount said:
"This cover is to a plane what a bonnet is to a car. It should not have been open. Something caused it to be dislodged.
Pictures of the plane flying with smoke coming from it indicate that the aircraft was being powered entirely by the left-hand engine. Most likely there was external damage to both engines.
Damage of this kind is consistent with a bird strike although at this stage we just don't what happened."
All short haul flights cancelled until 4pm
British Airways said it had cancelled all its short-haul flights in and out of Heathrow until 4pm today following the emergency landing earlier.
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Airport praises 'calm professionalism'
Heathrow is now fully operational and the airport is returning to normal.
– Normand Boivin, Heathrow Chief Operating OfficerAll passengers and crew were safely evacuated from the aircraft. BA is currently caring for its customers.
The temporary closure will result in a number of cancelled flights throughout the day and passengers are advised to check the status of their flight with their airline before travelling to the airport.
I would like to pay tribute to BA’s pilots and Heathrow’s fire and airside teams. In particular, I’d like to thank this morning’s airport duty manager Mark Freeman and his team for their quick and professional response to today’s incident.
– Mark Freeman, Heathrow Airport Duty ManagerIncidents like this are extremely rare but the team trains constantly to ensure we are prepared when they occur.
I’d like to thank the fire and airside team, emergency services and BA for their calm professionalism in assisting passengers and making the aircraft safe.
We were able to reopen the northern runway within two hours of the incident and we are now focused on returning the airport to normal as quickly as possible.
Passenger films dramatic footage of emergency landing
A passenger onboard the British Airways flight that was forced to make an emergency landing at Heathrow Airport captured this dramatic footage of the touch down.
A large section of the casing around the left-side jet engine appears to be missing, although problems with the right-side engine reportedly caused the plane to land.
Aerial view of the BA plane
Runways reopened: 186 flights cancelled
Heathrow airport say both the north and south runways havereopened and 186 flights have been cancelled.