British Airways evacuates passengers from plane at Heathrow
9th October 2023

British Airways evacuates passengers from plane at Heathrow after four fell ill from unknown ‘fumes’ on board

British Airways passengers were evacuated from a plane in Heathrow tonight, with four travelers falling ill after unknown ‘fumes’ filled the flight arriving from Barcelona.

Emergency services were seen rushing to Terminal 5 after the plane landed around 4.15pm yesterday, with the unwell passengers being treated and discharged at the scene. 

Footage posted online shows a number of fire engines and police cars on the runway at Terminal 5 while dozens of other passengers wait outside the plane.

Other images show firemen on board the flight kitted out with breathing apparatus as they pass scared customers.

One passenger tweeted ‘major police operation at Heathrow T5 tonight’ while another said: ‘Nothing like being locked on a plane with a ‘potential contagion’ for an hour and half with no explanation or information.’

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Two firemen seen boarding the British Airways plane at Heathrow Terminal 5 yesterday afternoon

Emergency services were called to the runway was the plane from Barcelona landed 

Footage posted online shows a number of fire engines and police cars on the runway at Terminal 5 while dozens of other passengers wait outside the plane

Four people on board were said to have become unwell, however, they were quickly discharged at the scene 

He added: ‘For clarity there was no contagion in the end. At least I hope not since they finally let us go.

‘The Met seems to be on the ball. Heathrow staff though, were increasingly unclear and hostile to what amounted to very confused terrified folks that just wanted to go home.’

A third wrote: ‘Scenes at Heathrow T5 as the BA flight from Barcelona has had its crew fall sick upon landing, and the passengers are being held on the runway.

‘No information other than smoke/fumes were detected in the cockpit and some cabin crew have been told to strip after falling ill.’

The London Fire Brigade said that there were no elevated chemical readings were detected inside the the aircraft, while the London Ambulance Service said it had sent a hazardous area response team along with three medics. 

The Metropolitan Police also attended the scene, telling the Mirror: ‘Police were called at 16:15hrs on Sunday, 8 October to reports of passengers taken unwell on a flight into Heathrow Airport. Emergency services attended. Four people were treated at the scene.’ 

The London Fire Brigade said that there were no elevated chemical readings were detected inside the the aircraft

Crowds of passengers wait on the runway as emergency services inspected the BA plane 

A number of fire engines, along with the ambulance service and Metropolitan Police attended the scene

Emergency services were seen rushing to Terminal 5 after the plane landed around 4.15pm yesterday

The London Ambulance Service added: ‘We sent a number of resources to the scene, including three medics in fast-response cars, two advanced paramedic practitioners, two ambulance crews, two incident response officers and members of our hazardous area response team (HART). 

‘After assessing multiple people at the scene, we treated three patients and discharged them.’ 

London Fire Brigade told the paper its ‘chemical team did a sweep of the plane and found no elevated readings’.

British Airways said the safety of its customers and crew ‘is always out top priority’ adding that the aircraft ‘landed normally’ following reports of a technical issue.

A statement added:  ‘Customers disembarked the aircraft safely via steps, and we’ve apologised to them for the delay and inconvenience caused to their journey.’

MailOnline has contacted the Met Police, London Fire Brigade, London Ambulance Service and Heathrow. 


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