Gatwick Airport chaos as flights suspended and diverted after BA plane aborts takeoff
A British Airways plane lands above the railway station at Gatwick Airport as a train arrives below it.
Flights at Gatwick Airport were temporarily suspended and diverted on Friday after a British Airways plane aborted its takeoff.
A British Airways Boeing 777-200ER from London Gatwick to Vancouver aborted its takeoff due to hot brakes.
The plane appeared to remain on the tarmac, closing the runway, for some time before it was moved.
Seven flights had been cancelled as a result of the emergency at the time of writing.
In addition, at least 10 were diverted to other airports, including London Stansted and Heathrow with easyJet and Wizz Air impacted.
Cancelled arrivals include flights from Palma de Mallorca, Nice, Faro and Oslo.
In addition, a whole host of flights have been delayed, according to live information on the official website.
A London Gatwick spokesperson told the Standard: "The main runway was closed for a short time today (28 June) due to a departing aircraft having hot brakes.
“Safety is our top priority and the dedicated airport fire service swiftly attended to support the aircraft. A number of flights were diverted.
“The runway is now open and operating as normal."
British Airways said its “pilots took the precautionary decision to cancel take-off due to a technical issue”.
A spokesperson said: “Our pilots took the precautionary decision to cancel take-off due to a technical issue.
“Safety is always our top priority and we apologise to customers for the inconvenience caused.”
Photos posted online appear to show fire crews dousing down the undercarriage of the plane.
An eyewitness told ITV News Meridian: “Just as we were about to roll onto the runway for takeoff, the pilot announced another aircraft was stuck on and blocking the runway and that they didn’t know how long it would take to clear.
“We must be knocking on for an hour now. The plane has now been towed from the runway and our engines are back up and running.
“Pilot said ‘it’s going to be a bit of a scrum to see who gets onto the runway first'.”
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