There was chaos at Heathrow Airport last night after the pilot of a Virgin Atlantic A340 airbus performed a "textbook emergency landing" yesterday afternoon when part of the landing gear failed to extend.
Four passengers who were injured during the emergency landing were taken to a nearby hospital with minor injuries.
As officials at Heathrow attempted to minimise the delays to passengers and other flights, two runways at the airport were closed. A spokesman for the Air Accident Inquiry Investigation Branch said an investigation into the incident was under way.
The emergency landing of the flight, which was en route from Los Angeles and was believed to be carrying more than 100 passengers and crew, happened at about 4.20 p.m. when the plane was reportedly flying low over the airport.
A statement from Virgin Atlantic said last night that a serious emergency had been averted when the crew realised the left main landing gear had not fully extended.
"Indications in the cockpit confirmed that all three remaining landing gears had extended normally. The aircraft completed a normal approach and the crew accomplished a textbook emergency landing and came to rest on the runway," the statement said.
Eyewitnesses said emergency chutes were immediately inflated to allow the passengers and crew to leave the plane and that the atmosphere was calm after the landing on the southern runway. Others described seeing sparks flying out from the underneath the wheels of the plane as it landed on the runway. It is understood the injuries to the passengers and crew happened as they were leaving the aircraft via the emergency chutes.
After the aircraft landed the passengers and crew were taken to a private room at Heathrow where they were visited by counsellors. The airport chaplain, the Rev Brian Lacock, said he tried to comfort them.
"Everybody was very relieved," he said. "They were singing the praises of the captain for bringing her in. He even shook the plane to try to shake the wheel free. All the passengers were saying the pilot did a wonderful job and so did the crew. Everybody was praising them." A spokesman for the London Fire Brigade said the plane was covered in foam after it had landed, which was part of "standard procedure to make the aircraft safe. Even if we did not expect a fire, with a blanket of foam around the plane there is no chance of fire breaking out."
Later, Heathrow airport confirmed that the injured passengers and crew had been taken to Ashford Hospital where they were receiving treatment for "minor injuries" incurred during the evacuation.