The entire British Heathrow airport was closed on Friday, after power was interrupted due to a fire that broke out in a below -electricity auction; What caused a chaos in the air navigation movement all over the world and has led to the abolition or conversion of hundreds of flights from the airport most busy in Europe.
Heathrow performs trips to about 80 countries and has been scheduled to land or take about 1350 flights from the five airport buildings on Friday, according to a website that keeps trace of air traffic on the internet, “Flight Radar 24”. Heathrow uses about 230,000 passengers per day and 83 million passengers per year; What makes it among the most worried airports in the world.
How did the fire broke out? What are its effects on international navigation? And why did the anti -terrorist police take the guidance of the investigation?
The anti -terrorism police are leading the investigations
The anti -terrorism police in London is conducting the investigations on the fire that broke out in a secondary station at Heathro nearby airport; “Due to the impact of this accident on the vital national infrastructure”.
The capital police were eager to underline the absence of indicators indicating that the fire derived from a “criminal act”. A spokesman for the London police said: “Although there are currently no indications that the accident is caused by a criminal work, we will remain open” on all the possibilities.
What happened?
A fire broke out in a secondary station west of London, about two miles (3 km) from the airport, to the current interruption from Heathrow airport before midnight on Thursday.
The major interruption was forced to close the airport until 23:59 on Friday; “To maintain the safety of our passengers and colleagues.”
London Firefighting Group said that 10 firefighters and 70 firefighters responded to a fire in the under -set that was reported at 23:23 on Thursday. The fire -fighting group said the fire was contained, but the firefighters will remain on the scene for the whole accident.
The Minister of Energy and Miliband said that the “catastrophic” fire seems to have caused a reserve generator, in addition to the sub -electric station that provides energy at Heathrow airport.
A fire in our North Hyde subsequently to West London has damaged the equipment, leading to a feeding loss in the area. We are working at speed to restore the power supplies as quickly as possible. We are working alongside the DNO for the area, Ssen, to reconnect the affected internal house …
– National Grid UK (@nationalgriduk) March 21, 2025
The company “National Graid”, which deals with energy infrastructures in Great Britain, said that the fire has damaged the equipment in the under -auction and the crews are working to restore energy supplies as quickly as possible.
While the electric current was restored to 62,000 customers within six oral local in the morning, according to “National Grid”, 4,900 other customers are still without electricity.
What is the cause of the fire?
The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but the officials have said that there is no indication “that it is a planned accident.” We do not know the cause of this fire “, said Miliband. It is clear that it happened unprecedented,” he recognized that the fire and the following at the closure of Heathrow airport raise questions about the elasticity of the main part of the national infrastructure.
For his part, the general manager of the air transport federation, “Iata”, Willie Walsh, said that the cut of the current that led to the closure of Heathrow airport has completely revealed a clear “bankruptcy” of the airport.
Ali X said: “How can a biomedous flexion have a completely national and global importance on a single source of energy without an alternative? If this is, as regards, this is a clear failure in the airport plane.
How is Heathrow airport influenced?
The turmoil interrupted the travel plans about 200,000 people who should have been traveling through Heathro airport on Friday. Heathro airport advised passengers not to travel at the airport and contact their airlines to book their flights.
With the abolition of all the takeoffs and landing, the first effect on dozens of long -term flights from North America and Asia, which was in the air when the airport was closed. Some were forced to return, while the path of others was converted into airports throughout the United Kingdom and in Europe.
The aircraft that goes to Heathrow airport has landed at Sakhabul airport in Amsterdam; Shannon Airport in Western Ireland; And Gullesco in Scotland; And Manchester in England; Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris; Lyon in France; Frankfurt in Germany, among other airports.
The ways were also cut by about 4000 tons of goods due to the closure, according to the press agency Associated Press, Anita Mindrata, aeronautical consultant.
How long will the ailments continue?
Even if the airport is reopened on Saturday, the disorders will continue for days, since the airlines have suspended aircraft and airlines in their offices and work to absorb passengers whose flights have been deleted.
Menderata estimated that there would be two or four days to finish all accumulated flights.
Heathro airport was the busiest airport in Europe last year, through which 83.6 million passengers traveled. It will have long -haul traces, because it is an important center for fixing travel to cities in Great Britain and all over the world, as well as to travel to London.
London has five other airports, but it is much smaller than Heathrow airport. The most important of which is Gatwick airport, the second largest airport in Great Britain, and dealt with 43.2 million passengers last year.
