Heathrow airport closed: counter-terrorism police leading substation fire investigation

Heathrow to resume some flights today

Heathrow has apologised for the inconvenience caused by the power outage.

A Heathrow spokesperson said: “Our teams have worked tirelessly since the incident to ensure a speedy recovery. We’re pleased to say we’re now safely able to begin some flights later today.

“Our first flights will be repatriation flights and relocating aircraft. Please do not travel to the airport unless your airline has advised you to do so.

“We will now work with the airlines on repatriating the passengers who were diverted to other airports in Europe. We hope to run a full operation tomorrow and will provide further information shortly.

“Our priority remains the safety of our passengers and those working at the airport. As the busiest airport in Europe, Heathrow uses as much energy as a small city, therefore getting back to a full and safe operation takes time. We apologise for the inconvenience caused by this incident.”

Key events

Heathrow airport will resume flights

Heathrow airport will resume flights, according to Reuters.

The airport said it is “safely able to begin some flights later today”.

The news comes as National Grid announced an “interim solution” has been found to allow power to be restored to the airport (see 15.09)

The airport is prioritising repatriation and relocation of aircraft, and hopes to run a full operation tomorrow.

Unclear when Heathrow will reopen, despite ‘interim’ fix – summary

Jakub Krupa

Heathrow Airport in London, Europe’s busiest airport, remains closed until at least 11.59pm tonight following a fire at an electricity substation in Hayes, west London, which left it without electricity.
Around 200,000 passengers have been affected by the closure, with over 1,300 flights disrupted.
National Grid believes it may have found “an interim solution” which could allow it to restore electricity supplies to energy users, including “the ability to resupply the parts of Heathrow airport” connected to its fire-damaged substation.
There have been reports about parts of the airport appearing to be receiving energy again, with lights on in Terminal 4.
But Heathrow said it does not have “clarity on when power may be reliably restored,” and “passengers should not travel to the airport under any circumstances until the airport reopens.”
The airport also responded to widespread criticism, including from IATA, of its back-up energy systems, saying they worked “as expected” when the substation fire started, but “they are not designed to allow us to run a full operation.”
The Metropolitan police has now confirmed that the counter-terrorism command is leading inquiries as to the source of fire at the substation in Hayes, but stressed there is “currently no indication of foul play.”
A spokesperson for the British prime minister has said the government expected “there will be significant disruption in the hours and days ahead and we will do everything we can to support those affected.”

And that’s all from me, Jakub Krupa, as I’m handing the blog over to Donna Ferguson.

While there has been no further updates from Heathrow yet, US carrier United Airlines told Reuters it expected its flights to be able to leave the United States later on Friday and land at London’s Heathrow Airport on Saturday morning local time.

Similar signals were reported from Air Canada.

But, to stress, there has been no formal confirmation of any of that from the airport authorities and their previous advice for passengers to not travel to the airport until it reopens remains in place.

National Grid found ‘interim solution’ to supply electricity after substation fire

Jillian Ambrose

A vessel navigates as smoke rises from the area of an electrical substation, after a fire there wiped out the power at Heathrow International Airport. Photograph: Carlos Jasso/Reuters

National Grid believes it may have found “an interim solution” which could allow it to restore electricity supplies to energy users, including “the ability to resupply the parts of Heathrow airport” connected to its fire-damaged substation.

A spokesman for the grid company said Heathrow was currently evaluating the plan which involves reconfiguring the flow of electricity to bypass the damaged substation. These efforts have already restored power to the last remaining homes left without electricity after the blaze, the spokesman said.

In the meantime National Grid will continue to work on returning the substation to normal operations, they added.

Here is the statement, in full:

A National Grid spokesperson said:

“We’re sorry for the disruption caused by a fire at our North Hyde substation and for the loss of power supplies in the area. Teams have been working around the clock to restore power as soon as possible.

Working in partnership with the local network operator SSEN Distribution (SSEN), the network has been reconfigured to restore all customers impacted, including the ability to resupply the parts of Heathrow airport that are connected to North Hyde.

This is an interim solution while we carry out further work at North Hyde to return the substation and our network to normal operation.

We are continuing to work closely with all stakeholders to manage this incident, and are focused on returning to normal resilience levels as soon as possible.”

A traveller walks outside the Terminal 4 at Heathrow International Airport after a fire at a nearby electrical substation wiped out the power at the airport. Photograph: Carlos Jasso/Reuters

It would appear the power is back on at Heathrow Terminal 4, PA news agency reported.

It said the lights are back on in the main building and the lifts in the multi-storey car park are also working again.

Earlier today, the London fire brigade said at its briefing that Terminals 2 and 4 continued to have no power.

No clarity on when power may be reliably restored, Heathrow says

Parked planes at Heathrow Terminal 5. Photograph: Jonathan Brady/PA

Heathrow said it does not have “clarity on when power may be reliably restored,” and “passengers should not travel to the airport under any circumstances until the airport reopens.”

In a statement carried by PA, a Heathrow spokesperson said:

“Heathrow is experiencing a significant power outage across the airport due to a large fire at a nearby electrical substation.

“Whilst fire crews are responding to the incident, we do not have clarity on when power may be reliably restored.

We expect significant disruption over the coming days and passengers should not travel to the airport under any circumstances until the airport reopens.

We will provide an update when more information on the resumption of operations is available.

We know this will be disappointing for passengers and we want to reassure that we are working as hard as possible to resolve the situation.”

Rowena Mason

A pedestrian walks along Whitehall in London, Britain. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA

It is understood there are still discussions within Whitehall about whether a Cobra meeting is necessary, which could take place if the closure at Heathrow drags on for a second day.

Downing Street would not say on Friday whether it is confident Heathrow Airport will be fully reopened by Saturday, saying it was “clearly a fast-moving situation.”

Keir Starmer’s deputy official spokesperson said it was for the emergency services and Heathrow to say when it would reopen but added:

“We do expect there will be significant disruption in the hours and days ahead and we will do everything we can to support those affected.”

He also urged “caution against speculating” about the cause of the fire, pointing out that it was premature to identify the cause while it is still burning.

Asked about an inquiry and whether National Grid had questions to answer, the No 10 spokesperson suggested any investigation should wait until after the situation is under control but added:

“There are questions to answer on how this has happened and what can be done to prevent the scale of disruption we’ve seen from happening again, once the situation is under control,” Starmer’s official spokesperson said.

Heathrow’s back-up systems worked ‘as expected,’ but not designed to ‘run full operation’, airport says

People stand near an arrivals sign at Heathrow International Airport, after a fire at a nearby electrical substation wiped out the power at the airport, near London. Photograph: Carlos Jasso/Reuters

Heathrow has now responded to earlier criticism, including from IATA, on its back-up energy systems, saying they worked “as expected” when the substation fire started.

In a statement quoted by PA, it said:

“We have multiple sources of energy into Heathrow.

But when a source is interrupted, we have back-up diesel generators and uninterruptable power supplies in place, and they all operated as expected.

Our back-up systems are safety systems which allow us to land aircraft and evacuate passengers safely, but they are not designed to allow us to run a full operation.

As the busiest airport in Europe, Heathrow uses as much energy as a small city, therefore it’s not possible to have back-up for all of the energy we need to run our operation safely.

“We are implementing a process which will allow us to redirect power to the affected areas, but this is a safety critical process which takes time, and maintaining safety remains our priority, so we have taken the decision to close the airport for today.”

BA offers ‘flexible’ options to rebook this weekend’s Heathrow flights for later dates

A British Airways passenger plane flies over a road direction sign as it makes its landing approach to Heathrow Airport in west London, Britain. Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters

British Airways has updated its statement on the disruption caused by the fire, offering passengers an option to rebook their flights between now and the end of the weekend to a later date for free.

Here is the statement:

Due to a power outage in the London Heathrow area, London Heathrow Airport is currently closed.

As a result, customers due to travel from Heathrow on Friday 21 March are advised not to travel to the airport until further notice. We will be contacting those who are due to travel on Friday via email to advise them of their options.

To offer our customers more certainty, we’re offering those booked to travel to or from Heathrow in the coming days (March 21 to March 23 inclusive) flexible options to rebook to a later date for free. Please visit Manage My Booking to see the options available.

We kindly ask customers to contact us via phone only if they’re due to travel imminently, to allow us to help affected customers as quickly as possible.

We are closely monitoring the situation and will provide more information as soon as we have further details.

No10 would not say if Heathrow will be fully reopened by Saturday

People walk at the Paddington railway station, after a fire at a nearby electrical substation wiped out power at the Heathrow International Airport. Photograph: Isabel Infantes/Reuters

Downing Street would not say whether it is confident Heathrow Airport will be fully reopened by Saturday, PA reported.

Asked whether this would be the case, a No 10 spokesperson said: “Well, it’s clearly a fast-moving situation.”

“It will be for emergency services and Heathrow to update on timescales for when this situation will be resolved. We do expect there will be significant direct disruption in the hours and days ahead.”

The spokesperson confirmed there was a “cross-government” call on Friday focusing on the immediate aftermath of the fire, PA reported.

National Grid ‘not in a position to rule anything in or out’ on fire causes

Jillian Ambrose

The head of National Grid’s electricity transmission business has refused to rule out that an act of sabotage may be behind the substation fire which cut power supplier to Heathrow airport.

“We’re not in a position to rule anything in or out,” Alice Delahunty, the president of National Grid’s transmission business, told the Guardian. “Our focus has been getting homes and businesses back on supply safely. There will be a time for a full and thorough investigation, but the focus has been on restoring power.”

Delahunty said that the “very significant and serious incident” was “extraordinarily rare” across National Grid’s network.

The team is collecting “rigorous documentation” relating to the incident but it was not yet possible to verify any “rumours and speculation” over its cause, she added.

Delahunty confirmed that the fire damaged the substation’s primary transformer, while the backup transformer sustained heat damage during the blaze.

The team is currently focused on bringing a third transformer online as soon as possible, and is working with the owner of the local power distribution network to reconfigure the flow of electricity to reach homes and the Heathrow airport, she said.

She declined to give a timeline for the ongoing work.

Ofgem to commission review of Hayes substation blaze

Jillian Ambrose

Electricity workers at the North Hyde electrical substation which caught fire. Photograph: Andrew Matthews/PA

The energy regulator, Ofgem, has promised to commission a review of the substation blaze which left up to 100,000 people without power and ground Heathrow airport to a halt.

Akshay Kaul, the director general for infrastructure at Ofgem, said: “We are clear the top priority is reconnecting both domestic and business customers, including Heathrow airport, as soon as possible and that vulnerable customers are supported in the meantime.”

“Once power is restored, we will commission a review to understand the cause of this incident and what lessons can be learned.”

Tens of thousands of customers have already had their power restored with restoration of supplies to the remaining 500 customers and Heathrow airport underway.

Energy industry experts have questioned why Heathrow was so vulnerable to a major fault at one of National Grid’s substation within the local network with no immediate alternative electricity routes available through the local networks.

Kaul said: “We expect network operators to keep their customers fully updated on the support available, including welfare provision, and when power will be restored.”

Met’s counter-terrorism command leads the investigation, police says, but ‘no indication of foul play’

The Metropolitan police has now confirmed that the counter-terrorism command is leading inquiries as to the source of fire at the substation in Hayes, while stressing there is “currently no indication of foul play.”

A spokesperson for the Met said:

“We are working with the London fire brigade to establish the cause of the fire which remains under investigation. While there is currently no indication of foul play we retain an open mind at this time.

Given the location of the sub-station and the impact this incident has had on critical national infrastructure, the Met’s counter-terrorism command is now leading inquiries.

This is due to the specialist resources and capabilities within that command that can assist in progressing this investigation at pace to minimise disruption and identify the cause.”

‘Clear planning failure’ if Heathrow depends on single power source

International Air Transport Association, the trade association for airlines, said it would be a “clear planning failure” if Heathrow turned out to be “dependent on a single power source without an alternative.”

“From that arises the question of who bears the costs of taking care of disrupted travellers. We must find a fairer allocation of passenger care costs than airlines alone picking up the tab when infrastructure fails. Until that happens, Heathrow has very little incentive to improve,” IATA’s director general Willie Walsh said in a statement.

Walsh added that “today’s closing of Heathrow will inconvenience a huge number of travellers,” as he called it a “yet another case of Heathrow letting down both travelers and airlines.”

Passengers at Hatton Cross Underground station pass a notice advising people not to travel to Heathrow Airport in London. Photograph: Tolga Akmen/EPA

Counter-terrorism involvement ‘routine’ and ‘nothing more than precaution’

Vikram Dodd

Investigators continue to believe the fire was not the result of a deliberate act, but stress inquiries are at an early stage.

Detectives from Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism command are being deployed as part of the investigation, but that is described as routine and nothing more than a precaution.

Counter-terrorism detectives bring some specialist skills but also they have the security clearance to access sensitive material as investigators try to establish the fire’s cause.

Authorities, including from the intelligence service, are monitoring and would be updated if the police led investigation suggests anything suspicious led to the fire.

Heathrow is part of the UK’s critical national infrastructure and thus a potential target for terrorism or sabotage in pursuance of a cause. Espionage and sabotage in the UK backed by state actors has risen in recent years.

A police officer and firefighters at the North Hyde electrical substation which caught fire. Photograph: Andrew Matthews/PA