Pilot 'mixing up his left and right' causes Gatwick shutdown and plane fire
9 May 2025, 10:49
A British Airways plane caught fire after the pilot mixed up his left and right during take-off last year, resulting in an airport shut down, a new report has revealed.
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A pilot caused a British Airways plane to set alight after mixing up his left and right hands during take off last year.
The Boeing jet was due to take off from Gatwick to Vancouver in June, when the co-pilot mistook his right hand for his left and pulled back on the lever operating the aircraft's thrust.
This caused the plane's brakes to catch fire and led to a rejected take-off. The pilot was forced to perform a 'high-speed emergency stop' on the runway after reaching speeds of more than 190 mph.
Chaos ensued as the airport temporarily closed and dozens of flights were delayed.
The report said: 'There was no obvious reason for him being primed to do that... and he could not identify a reason for it on the day. He expressed surprise in himself over the inadvertent thrust reduction.'
Details of the plane disaster were revealed in an Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) report, published on Thursday, which also noted that the pilot had just come back from a period of annual leave, and was 'well-rested and feeling fine'.
The pilot, who had over 6,000 hours logged of flying time, 'could not identify a reason' why he mixed up his hands.
None of the 13 crew or 334 passengers onboard the plane were injured during the incident, although the fire on the right-side main wheel brakes did have to be extinguished by fire crew.
Plane stuck on / blocking the runway at Gatwick. Nothing in or out as it stands, been this way for around 20 mins now ….. pic.twitter.com/vR6lY4B8U8
— Tom Strawbridge (@strawbs5) June 28, 2024
A statement from Gatwick at the time of the incident last year said the plane had been abandoned 'due to the departing aircraft having hot breaks'.
A spokesperson added: '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.'
A British Airways spokesperson also said at the time: '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.'
