Co-Pilot’s Mistake Forces British Airways Plane to Abort Take-Off at Gatwick Airport

A British Airways plane had to cancel its take-off at Gatwick Airport on June 28 after the co-pilot made a mistake while handling the controls. The incident happened just before a scheduled flight to Vancouver, Canada.

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said the co-pilot confused his left and right hands and pulled the wrong lever. This caused the plane to lose speed when it was supposed to speed up.

The flight had 334 passengers and 13 crew members on board. Luckily, no one was hurt. The plane came to a stop before reaching the end of the runway. However, the sudden stop caused the brakes to overheat, and a fire broke out on the right-side landing gear. Firefighters at the airport quickly arrived to put out the flames.

The mistake also caused delays at Gatwick. The runway was closed for 50 minutes. During this time, 23 other flights had to be cancelled. British Airways said safety is always their top priority. They said the pilots safely stopped the aircraft.

The AAIB investigated the event. They found that the co-pilot meant to move a lever on the right but moved one on the left instead. This mistake slowed the plane down when it needed full power to take off. The co-pilot tried to speed up again but then decided to stop the take-off.

The co-pilot had more than 6,100 flying hours. He said he was surprised by the mistake and didn’t know why it happened. He had last flown two weeks before the incident. The airline said there were no major distractions that morning.

Four days before the event, British Airways had sent out a safety message to all pilots. It reminded them to pause and think carefully before taking action. After the incident, the airline added more tips about this kind of mistake in its pre-flight training. They are also focusing on this topic in simulator training to prevent future errors.