British Airways Plane Catches Fire Due to Pilot’s Hand Confusion

A simple mix-up between left and right can sometimes lead to serious consequences, as demonstrated by an incident involving a British Airways flight. On June 28, 2024, during the takeoff of Flight BA2279 from London’s Gatwick Airport to Vancouver, the co-pilot mistakenly used their left hand instead of the right while handling the aircraft’s thrust controls. According to a report published on Thursday (May 8, 2025) by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB), this error caused the plane to reject takeoff, resulting in a fire at the wheels and forcing an emergency high-speed stop on the runway after reaching speeds over 190 km/h. Emergency services quickly extinguished the blaze in the right main landing gear system. The incident temporarily closed the airport’s main runway, diverting 16 incoming flights and canceling 23 others. Fortunately, none of the 347 passengers and crew aboard the Boeing 777 were injured. Despite his extensive flying experience—over 6,000 hours—the co-pilot stated they were well-rested and felt fine at the time of the accident, unable to identify any reason for the mishap. The captain intervened to safely and methodically halt the aircraft and inform air traffic control. ‘Safety is always our top priority, and our pilots stopped the aircraft safely. We apologize to our customers, and our teams worked hard to get them on their way as soon as possible,’ said a British Airways spokesperson.