London Heathrow Airport halts all take-offs and landings as runway blocked by plane

Heathrow Airport ground to a halt this morning with planes stopped from taking off and landing as an aircraft was towed away from the taxiway.

Planes could be seen circling in the as ground crews services rushed to the lone aircraft ominously sitting silently on the main runway.

The BBC’s Helena Wilkinson tweeted:

‘At Heathrow airport – my flight delayed – reading reports take-offs have been halted … not sure if accurate but don’t know what’s going on’. Reporter Felicity Baker replied: ‘My parents have just landed at Heathrow and Public Health England aren’t allowing them to get off the plane!’

After an anxious wait, the plane was towed away into a holding area where it was later reported that a technical fault had prevented the pilot from maneuvering to the aircraft stand.

First reports incorrectly said that there was a passenger on board that showed symptoms of the coronavirus, this turned out to be false.

A Heathrow spokesperson said: ‘For a matter of minutes one of the runways was out of service as an aircraft was towed from the taxiway. Heathrow is now operating as normal.’