Plane fire at Gatwick Airport broke out after pilot mixed up left and right hands, report finds

A fire broke out on a British Airways plane at Gatwick Airport last year after a pilot mixed up his left and right hands, an investigation has found.

Around 334 passengers and 13 crew members were onboard the Boeing 777 jet when its brakes overheated on the runway last June.

There were no reported injuries from the incident, but it caused Gatwick - the UK's second busiest airport - to close for 50 minutes and saw 23 flights cancelled.

A report from the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said that the incident occurred after the co-pilot "unintentionally" pulled his left hand back on the thrust lever - reducing the power output - when he should have taken his hand away during take-off.

It added that the co-pilot should have been preparing to pull back on the control column with his right hand, and that he aborted the take-off after realising the error.

The plane then came to a standstill "some distance before the end of the runway".

After the incident, the co-pilot "expressed surprise in himself over the inadvertent thrust reduction" and "could not identify a reason for it".

The report added that the co-pilot "reported being well-rested and feeling fine".

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A British Airways spokesperson said: "Safety is always our highest priority and our pilots brought the aircraft to a safe stop.

"We apologised to our customers and our teams worked hard to get them on their way as quickly as possible."

(c) Sky News 2025: Plane fire at Gatwick Airport broke out after pilot mixed up left and right hands, report finds