Heathrow Airport Partially Reopened after Fire
LONDON: Heathrow airport partially reopened after a fire caused power cuts and travel chaos, is expected to become fully operational by Saturday. However, authorities have cautioned against ‘huge impact’ in the coming days.
An investigation led by the counter-terrorism police have so far confirmed that there is “no indication of foul play”. Addressing the incident, Downing Street has said that there are questions which need to be answered as to what may have caused a fire at an electrical substation that closed down London’s Heathrow airport resulting in over 1,350 flights being delayed and/or cancelled. According to a report by the British tabloid, The Guardian, a spokesperson for the Metropolitan police said: “We are working with the London fire brigade to establish the cause of the fire, which remains under investigation”. The spokesperson added that while there was no indication of foul play, “we retain an open mind at this time”.
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On the other hand, sources familiar with the investigation have claimed officials believe its highly likely the fire is an unprecedented yet accidental incident and not the result of any criminal activity. On Friday, authorities partially reopened the airport for operations while complete operations are expected to resumed from Saturday. However, airlines have said the closure would continue to impact passengers in the coming days.
The blaze at the North Hyde electrical substation near Heathrow airport early on Friday. Photograph: Matthew Muirhead/AP
The Prime Minister’s official spokesperson has stated: “There are questions to answer on how this has happened and what can be done to prevent the scale of disruption we’ve seen from happening again, once the situation is under control”. It is pertinent to note that the fire started shortly after 11pm on Thursday at a substation north of the airport, after which the London fire brigade (LFB) was called to put it out. According to local media reports, over seventy firefighters worked to bring the blaze under control till the early hours of Friday, after 25,000 litres of oil caught fire at the substation. Despite the smell, authorities expressed there was no “air quality” danger to public health.
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On the other hand, the incident led to power cuts in the area for several hours affecting almost 67,000 homes that resulted in over a hundred people being evacuated. In the wake of the incident, the Department of Transport lifted restrictions for night flights to help ease the backlog of lights caused by the fire.
British Airways planes parked at Terminal 5 as London Heathrow airport closes for the full day on Friday after an electrical substation fire knocked out its power. Photograph: Kin Cheung/AP
Senior security and aviation personnel have expressed disappointment at the closure. Willie Walsh, Director General of the Internation Air Transport Association (Iata) said the incident seems like a “clear planning failure by the airport”. Meanwhile, David Omand, former head of the GCHQ (Government Communication Headquarters) commented, “such a complete failure over the period of a day – and who knows the disruption may last longer – is a national embarrassment. It shouldn’t have happened.”
A spokesperson for the airport said: “Our priority remains the safety of our passengers and those working at the airport”. The representative went on to apologize for the inconvenience caused by the incident.
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