A fire broke out at Gatwick Airport, south of London, in June 2024, when a British Airways pilot confused his left and right hands, the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) confirmed in their investigation report published on Thursday.
The co-pilot on the flight "unintentionally" pulled his left hand back on the thrust lever, reducing the power output, when he should have taken his hand away during take-off, the investigation found.
The co-pilot was intending to pull his right hand back on the control column.
However, the “action slip” forced the pilot to perform a “high-speed emergency stop” on the runway after reaching speeds of more than 190mph.
This caused the brakes of the Boeing 777 to overheat on the runway with 334 passengers and 13 crew members on board, but there were no reported injuries.
The plane came to a standstill "some distance before the end of the runway," the report added.
The captain had stepped in to “calmly and methodically” bring the plane to a halt and was able to alert air traffic control, according to The Independent.
Airport closed for 50 minutes, 23 flights cancelled
However, according to Sky News, the airport, which is the second busiest in the UK, was forced to close for 50 minutes, causing 23 flights to be cancelled.
The report stated that the co-pilot claimed to be "well-rested and feeling fine" when the incident occurred.
The BBC cited a British Airways spokesperson who said, "Safety is always our highest priority, and our pilots brought the aircraft to a safe stop."
The flight had been set to travel to Vancouver, according to The Telegraph.