Passengers bound for Heathrow airport in London today face continuing delays as authorities try to clear the backlog caused by yesterday's crash-landing of a British Airways jet.
The Boeing 777 from Beijing landed short of Heathrow's southern runway just before 1pm yesterday, injuring 11 people and forcing the closure of the runway and the cancellation of almost 100 flights.
Fire engines smothered the aircraft in foam after the landing at the world's busiest international airport extensively damaged its wings and ripped off its under- carriage.
The wheels of the plane, which had a routine maintenance check in December, remained in the field where it crashed, several hundred metres from the runway.
With the undercarriage wrecked and with two giant wheel units being ripped off, the 136 passengers were safely evacuated from the plane.
One passenger spoke of the plane coming in at a "funny angle" and "belly-flopping" on to the grass, with evacuation down the ramps being conducted very quickly.
The British Air Accidents Investigation Branch was investigating the incident.
Heathrow authorities halved the number of flights normally dealt with. Last night the aftershocks of the incident were felt in Dublin, Belfast and Cork, where Aer Lingus passengers faced delays of up to three hours.
Asked about the likelihood of more delays today, a spokeswoman for Heathrow Airport replied: "We expect there will be some knock-on effect. Passengers should check with their airline."
Aer Lingus was forced to cancel EI715 from Heathrow to Cork yesterday and divert another Cork flight, EI 712, to Gatwick. Passengers had to be transferred to Heathrow by bus. Hundreds of aircraft flying into the UK had to be diverted to other airports around London as emergency crews worked on the stricken aircraft.
The disruption also led to arriving flights being switched to London's other airports at Gatwick, Stansted and Luton. Some were ferried on to their ultimate destination in coaches.
A spokeswoman at Luton Airport said: "We have had four planes destined for Heathrow but the second runway at the airport opened up not long afterwards so that reduced the number of aircraft that needed to be diverted.
"The passengers were off-loaded from the aircraft and taken on coaches to their destination."
On top of the diversions, a flight restriction had to be imposed by the National Air Traffic Services, which oversees the UK's air space. The southern runway was reopened for take-offs only.