Plane crash-lands at Heathrow

Nation & World News

Plane crash-lands at Heathrow

A British Airways passenger jet crash-landed just short of a runway at London's Heathrow airport on Thursday, plowing across open grassland before skidding to a halt when it hit the tarmac with parts of its undercarriage torn off.

A British Airways passenger jet crash-landed just short of a runway at London's Heathrow airport on Thursday, plowing across open grassland before skidding to a halt when it hit the tarmac with parts of its undercarriage torn off.

The Boeing came to rest with wing and engine damage. Emergency chutes had sprouted from each side of the plane to enable passengers to evacuate the stricken aircraft, which had been doused in foam by the fire services.

A cab driver on his way to Heathrow said the plane seemed to clip a perimeter fence on its approach. Here, a pair of undercarriage wheels lying near the runway.

The jet, a twin-engined Boeing 777, was in the final minutes of a scheduled flight -- BA 38 -- from Beijing.

Three people were slightly injured and the airport -- one of the world's busiest -- was closed temporarily, according to officials from the ambulance and aviation authorities.

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A British Airways passenger jet crash-landed just short of a runway at London's Heathrow airport on Thursday, plowing across open grassland before skidding to a halt when it hit the tarmac with parts of its undercarriage torn off.

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