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Airliner crash-lands at Heathrow
The BA flight crash-landed at Heathrow Airport
A passenger plane has crash-landed short of a runway at Heathrow Airport after losing its rear undercarriage.
All 136 passengers and 16 crew escaped from the British Airways flight BA038 from Beijing. 13 people have been taken to hospital with minor injuries.
An airport worker told the BBC the pilot on the Boeing 777 had said he had lost all power, and had been forced to glide the plane into land.
All BA short-haul flights from Heathrow have been cancelled and others delayed.
The worker also said the pilot had told him all the electronics had also failed.
"He said he had no warning - it just went," the worker added.
"It's a miracle. The man deserves a medal as big as a frying pan."
BA refused to comment on the report and said it would not speculate on the cause of the crash.
Police say the incident was not terror-related.
'Enormous bang'
Nearby Hillingdon Hospital is treating 13 casualties, nine men and four women. Four of those admitted are BA crew members, but the pilot is not thought to be among them.
Director of operations Jacqueline Totterdell said most would be discharged later on Thursday, but one woman would be admitted overnight. She said some were suffering from whiplash.
Seven of those in hospital are British and three are Chinese. The nationalities of the others are not yet known.
BA said one of those injured had a broken leg.
The incident happened on the south runway at 1242 GMT, as Prime Minister Gordon Brown was due to leave Heathrow for China and India. His flight was delayed because of the incident.
The runway was initially closed, but reopened later to take-offs only. The north runway remained open throughout the incident.
A telephone helpline has been set up for anyone concerned about friends or relatives on 0800 3894193.
The Department of Transport's Air Accidents Investigation Branch has launched an investigation.
'On its belly'
Paul Venter, who was on board the plane, said he had been aware of a problem just as the plane was about to land.
"I could hear the undercarriage come out, and the next moment the plane just dropped," Mr Venter said.
"When everything came to a standstill, I looked out of the window and the undercarriage was gone and the plane was on its belly."
Eyewitness John Rowland, who was driving on the nearby M4 motorway, said: "The plane's wheels collapsed, doors were flown open.
"On its approach it took the runway too low, just missing the roof of my cab.
"It crashed into the runway, debris was flying everywhere, there was an enormous bang and it skidded sideways."
Another eyewitness, also a taxi driver, said the plane flew over "so low you would think you could lean out the window and touch it".
"It passed over my vehicle at something like 20ft and over the perimeter [fence] at 15ft before it plunged into the runway," he told the BBC.
'Near miracle'
BA said the cabin crew had done an "excellent job" evacuating passengers via the emergency chutes.
Chief executive of BA Willie Walsh said he was "very proud" of the crew and the Boeing 777 was an "excellent aircraft".
"We train hard for incidents such as this, and all that training has paid off today," Mr Walsh said.
Aviation expert Kieran Daly, from Flight International magazine, said not a single Boeing 777 had been lost in a crash since the aircraft was launched in 1995.
More than 90 flights had been cancelled at Heathrow by 1530 GMT. Some flights bound for Heathrow are being diverted to Stansted and Luton Airports, and others have been cancelled.
John McDonnell MP, whose Hayes and Harlington constituency includes Heathrow, said the incident underlined concerns about extending the airport.
"This is a near miracle that neither passengers or anyone on the ground has been seriously injured," Mr McDonnell said.
The plane involved is one of 43 Boeing 777s in BA's fleet. It is believed to be about six years old.
No one was seriously hurt, but still a big deal. It was a long-haul flight from China, maybe ran out of fuel -- but should've had low fuel warnings. Interesting to see how this develops.
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