Heathrow runways shut after BA plane 'on fire' makes emergency landing

Heathrow Airport ground to a halt this morning when a British Airways plane thought to be 'on fire' was forced to make an emergency landing.

Eye witnesses reported seeing smoke billowing from Flight BA762 heading for Oslo, and the incident left both runways closed as the plane made an emergency landing on the northern runway.

According to the Independent, the London Fire Brigade tweeted: "One crew from Heathrow fire station is assisting Heathrow Airport's fire service with an aircraft fire.

"We believe the fire is now out."

One onlooker, Clive Cook, who lives under the flight path, told Sky News: "The actual engine itself was on fire.

"This plane was coming over and suddenly the tone of the engine changed dramatically, and I could almost say it sounded as if it was like a blowout, or an explosion."

The Metro reports that one traveller, Jonathan Charles, was stranded on a runway at Heathrow, and tweeted a photo of the plane that made the emergency landing, writing: "Stuck at Heathrow airport on BA plane, both runways closed. A plane lost an engine on take off, emergency landed with 2nd engine on fire."

Sky News reports that a BA statement read: "The BA762, Heathrow to Oslo service, returned back to Heathrow shortly after take-off due to a technical fault.

"The Airbus A319 aircraft was carrying 75 customers. The aircraft landed safely and emergency slides were deployed and we are currently caring for our customers.

"Emergency services attended the aircraft."

The southern runway is now open, while the northern runway is currently closed.

All passengers and crew were evacuated without any injuries occurring, and the BA spokeswoman added: "We will be carrying out a full investigation into the incident."

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