This is the dramatic moment an American Airlines pilot told passengers en route to London that their plane would be performing a U-turn and heading back to the US.
Flight AA730 left Charlotte in North Carolina at 7.30pm EDT last night (11.30pm GMT) and was due to land at Heathrow over seven hours later at 7am GMT (3am EDT).
The Boeing 777 made it to the eastern edge of Canada but passengers then noticed on their screens that the flight path map showed it had done a 180-degree turn.
The travellers were among 200,000 whose flights to or from Heathrow were axed or diverted after the airport shut all day after a fire at a nearby electrical substation.
In the clip, the pilot can be heard saying: ‘Some of you may have noticed on the TV screen we have made a 180-degree turn. We are heading back to Charlotte.
‘Let me tell you what is going on – there was a huge fire at the power substation at London Heathrow. The runways have light but there is no power at all in the terminals and they are not accepting flights into London Heathrow for the next 22 hours.’
He added: ‘Gatwick and Manchester were not accepting flights and but then they changed their minds and said they are accepting flights.
‘But we are so far away from those airports that by the time we get to Gatwick or Manchester there will be no room for our airplane because all the other airplanes are diverting to Manchester and Gatwick and that’s why we are returning to Charlotte.’
An American Airlines pilot told passengers flying from Charlotte that they were heading back
The plane was en route to London Heathrow when the pilot said it would be returning to the US
The American Airlines flight had made it to the eastern edge of Canada but had to head back
As passengers could be heard groaning at the news, the pilot added: ‘We will be on the ground in three hours and about 24 minutes.’
They ended up landing back at Charlotte at about 2.30am EDT this morning (6.30am GMT), just half an hour before they had originally been due to land at Heathrow today – meaning they had completed a 3,500-mile flight for nothing.
Passengers on other flights also posted videos on social media of their planes being diverted, including one who was travelling from Malaysia to Heathrow who ended up being redirected to Amsterdam.
Another was on a flight which U-turned back to Kuala Lumpur shortly after taking off.
A third was travelling from Thailand to Heathrow but ended up in a hotel in Frankfurt after being diverted en route.
And a fourth was halfway to London on a eight-hour flight from Dubai which had to turn back.
Passengers are now being warned to expect disruption for several days due to the Heathrow closure, and many planes and flight crews are now in the wrong location.
Online flight tracking service Flightradar24 said the closure would affect more than 1,350 flights to and from Heathrow today. This includes 679 scheduled to land and 678 due to take off from the airport.
It said 120 flights to the airport were in the air when the closure was announced.
Another passenger was travelling from Thailand to Heathrow but ended up in a Frankfurt hotel
A passenger was halfway to London on a eight-hour flight from Dubai which had to turn back
A transformer within the North Hyde electrical substation in West London caught fire last night
Smoke continues to billow from the North Hyde electrical substation in West London today
Flights were diverted to Gatwick, Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris and Ireland’s Shannon Airport. Some were also turned around and returned to airports in Canada.
London Gatwick accepted seven diverted flights from locations including Singapore, Johannesburg, Lagos, Cape Town and Doha which were originally destined for Heathrow.
Shannon Airport in Co Clare accepted six diversions from Toronto, Atlanta, Bridgetown Barbados, Boston, Orlando and Newark.
The Metropolitan Police said there is ‘currently no indication of foul play’ relating to the fire, but ‘we retain an open mind at this time’.
The force said its Counter Terrorism Command would lead inquiries given the impact of the fire ‘on critical national infrastructure’.
Thousands of homes have been left without power and more than 100 people were evacuated after a transformer within the North Hyde electrical substation caught fire in West London.
The airport, which is supplied by the substation, said it was among those affected by the power outage.
Heathrow is the UK’s largest airport, with more than 83.9 million passengers travelling through its terminals in 2024.
Parked planes and an empty runway at London Heathrow Terminal 5 today after it was closed
Passengers are facing travel chaos today after Heathrow Airport had to close due to a fire
Firefighters wearing masks at the scene of the major blaze in West London this morning
An almost empty Arrivals Hall at Heathrow Terminal 4 in London this morning after its closure
A screen at Hatton Cross Underground station today tells passengers that Heathrow is closed
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.
‘To maintain the safety of our passengers and colleagues, we have no choice but to close Heathrow until 11.59pm on 21 March 2025. 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.’
American Airlines said of its all passengers traveling to, through or from Heathrow will have any change fees waived as long as they bought their ticket by yesterday; are scheduled to travel today or tomorrow; and can travel between tomorrow and next Wednesday.
Passengers also cannot change their origin or destination city, and must rebook in the same cabin type or pay the difference. Changes must be booked by tomorrow.
