Crime Today News
London: The first plane landed at Heathrow Airport late Friday, about 18 hours after an inferno at an electrical substation caused a power outage that forced the closure of Europe’s busiest air travel hub. The British Airways jet touched down just before sunset after Heathrow lifted its closure order, which disrupted global travel for hundreds of thousands of passengers.
At least 1,350 flights to and from Heathrow were affected, according to flight tracking service FlightRadar24. The impact was expected to last several days as passengers rescheduled travel and airlines worked to reposition aircraft and crews.
Authorities are still investigating the cause of the fire but have found no evidence it was suspicious. Residents in west London reported hearing a large explosion, followed by a fireball and thick clouds of smoke, as the blaze tore through the electrical substation near the airport.
About 120 flights were already airborne when the closure was announced. Some were turned around, while others were diverted to Gatwick Airport, Charles de Gaulle Airport near Paris, or Ireland’s Shannon Airport.
Lawrence Hayes, a passenger on a Virgin Atlantic flight from New York to London, found himself unexpectedly in Scotland after his plane was rerouted to Glasgow.
“It was a red-eye flight, and I’d already had a full day, so I don’t even know how long I’ve been up for,” Hayes told the BBC. “Luckily, I managed to get hold of my wife, and she’s kindly booked me a train ticket to get back to Euston, but it’s going to be an incredibly long day.”
Heathrow, one of the world’s busiest international airports, recorded its busiest January on record earlier this year, with over 6.3 million passengers—up more than 5% from the same period last year.
Despite the chaos, Friday’s disruption was not as severe as the one caused by the 2010 eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano, which spewed clouds of ash into the atmosphere and disrupted transatlantic travel for months.
Cause of fire unknown, foul play not suspected
It remains unclear what sparked the massive blaze approximately 3 kilometers (2 miles) from the airport, but Energy Secretary Ed Miliband confirmed that there is “no suggestion” of foul play.
The Metropolitan Police stated that counterterrorism detectives are leading the investigation, given their expertise in identifying causes quickly and because of the location’s critical national infrastructure.
Heathrow officials confirmed that their emergency backup power system functioned as expected but was not sufficient to sustain the entire airport, making closure unavoidable.
“We expect significant disruption over the coming days, and passengers should not travel to the airport under any circumstances until the airport reopens,” Heathrow officials said in a statement.
The extent of the disruption has led to criticism of Britain’s preparedness for disasters or potential attacks. Alan Mendoza, executive director of the Henry Jackson Society, a security think tank, warned that the UK’s critical infrastructure is vulnerable.
“If one fire can shut down Heathrow, it tells you something’s badly wrong with our system of management for such disasters,” Mendoza said.
Tom Wells, spokesperson for Prime Minister Keir Starmer, acknowledged concerns over the disruption and called for a “rigorous investigation” to ensure such an event does not happen again.
This is not the first time Heathrow has suffered operational
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