British Airways‘ (London) flight BA 762 to Oslo operated with Airbus A319-131 G-EUOE (msn 1574) was forced to return to Heathrow Airport this morning after a fire developed in the right engine. The passengers and crew member were safely evacuated on the runway. The emergency landing temporarily closed both runways causing delays this morning. However one runways is again open. However BA was forced to cancel its short-haul flights and issued this statement:

We are very sorry for the significant disruption at London Heathrow today.

The closure of one runway meant that we needed to cancel all our short-haul flights in to and out of Heathrow up until 16:00 (BST) today. We understand how frustrating this is for customers and thank them for their patience.

These cancellations will help us to stabilize our schedule, allowing us to get as many customers away as possible in these difficult circumstances.

Read the full report from the Independent: CLICK HERE

Update: On May 31, 2013 the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) report stated two cowlings on the Airbus A319’s engines were left unlocked after maintenance and this was not noticed before the aircraft departed according to Reuters.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

British Airways: