To confuse the left with the right one is human- but if you are pilot as her particular British Airwaysthen this “innocent” mistake can even cause fire.
British Airways aircraft caught fire when the pilot confused the left with the right hand on take off, As Independent writes.
BA2279 was to depart from London’s Gatwick Airport for Vancouver On June 28, 2024, when The co -pilot confused his right hand with the left, then handling the aircraft.
In a report published on Thursday (08.05.2025) by the Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) it is stated that The pilot had to “move his left hand during the take -off rolling, while preparing to pull back the control pillar with his right hand.
“However, unintentionally pulled his left hand back ».
‘Slip’ led to rejection of take -off and fire on the brakes and forced the pilot to perform a “high -speed urgent stop” in the landing corridor, having reached speeds of over 190 km/h.
Airport fire and rescue services went to the aircraft and They extinguished the fire in the right main landing system.
The incident also resulted in the temporary closure of the main landing runway at Gatwick Airport, while 16 incoming flights were diverted elsewhere and another 23 were canceled.
None of the 347 passengers and the crew on Boeing 777 was injuredalthough the incident caused an official investigation and report by the Security Service.
The experienced co -pilot, who had more than 6,000 hours of flight in his assets, insisted that he was “relaxed and feeling good” at the time of the incident and “could not find a reason” for which the accident happened.
The commander intervened to stop the plane “calm and methodically” and alert air traffic control.
“Security is always our top priority and our pilots have stopped the aircraft safely.
“We apologized to our customers and our teams worked hard to continue their journey as soon as possible,” a British Airways spokesman said.