A ground vehicle caught fire near a British Airways (BA) Airbus A320 parked at Heathrow Terminal 5, sending flames and a massive black smoke cloud rising from a set of mobile stairs attached to the A320, engulfing its tail.[1][2][3][4][5] The thick smoke column was so high it was visible from behind several terminal buildings at the busy airport.[1]
Footage captured firefighters battling the blaze with water jets just yards from the terminal building.[1] London Heathrow Airport (LHR) confirmed that no passengers were onboard the aircraft at the time of the incident, and a BA spokesperson stated that "Emergency services quickly extinguished a small fire involving a third-party ground vehicle. No customers were impacted, and there were no injuries."[1][2]
The affected aircraft is an 11.1-year-old Airbus A320-200, registered as G-EUYO, that had arrived at Heathrow from Athens earlier that afternoon.[1] While the cause of the fire is still under investigation, there have been multiple recent incidents related to fire, both on the ground and in the air, which have disrupted air travel.[1]
This incident serves as a stark reminder of the importance of robust safety protocols and vigilance in the aviation industry, as even a small fire can quickly escalate and pose a significant threat to aircraft and passengers. The prompt response and containment of the fire by the airport's emergency services likely prevented a more serious outcome.[2][5]
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