A British Airways flight caught fire at Gatwick Airport after a co-pilot mixed up his left and right hands during take-off, according to a report released by the Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB).
The incident on June 28, 2024, involved flight BA2279 bound for Vancouver with 347 people aboard.
The co-pilot, an experienced airman with more than 6,000 flying hours, pulled back with his left hand during take-off when he should have done so with his right.
This "action slip" led to a rejected take-off and a brake fire as the pilot was forced to perform a high-speed emergency stop after reaching speeds of more than 190mph.
There were delays on the runway throughout the day
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Despite being "well-rested and feeling fine" at the time of the flight, the first officer "could not identify a reason" why he mixed up his hands, the AAIB report stated.
The report revealed the pilot had just returned from annual leave, having last flown two weeks prior to the incident.
He expressed surprise at his own inadvertent thrust reduction. The mishap caused significant disruption at Gatwick Airport, which was temporarily closed.
Sixteen inbound flights were diverted elsewhere, including an Emirates A380 flight from Dubai that was forced to land in Brussels.
A further 23 departures were cancelled, potentially costing airlines millions of pounds according to Eurocontrol estimates.
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British Airways has said it apologised
PAAirliner co-pilots typically use their left hands to operate the aircraft's thrust levers, which control its engines, and their right hands on the control column.
At take-off, the pilot must pull back on the control column, raising the airliner's nose so it lifts into the sky.
Instead, the co-pilot throttled back right at the point where the aircraft needed maximal thrust to get airborne.
Although he "momentarily" pushed the levers forwards again, his training kicked in. Two seconds after the "action slip", the co-pilot cut the power and applied the brakes from a speed of 186mph.
None of the 347 people on the Boeing 777 were injured.
A British Airways spokesperson said: "Safety is always our highest priority and our pilots brought the aircraft to a safe stop.
"We apologised to our customers and our teams worked hard to get them on their way as quickly as possible."
At the time of the incident, BA had described it as a "technical issue" when explaining the cancelled take-off.
