A pilot inadvertently caused a British Airways The plane caught fire after he mixed up his left and right hands during takeoff.
The Boeing 777 jet had been about to take off from Gatwick To Vancouver in June prior year, when the co-pilot erroneously confused his right hand with his left and yanked backward on the lever controlling the airplane's thrust.
This caused the brakes to catch fire and led to a rejected take-off, meaning the pilot was forced to perform a 'high-speed emergency stop' on the runway after reaching speeds of more than 190mph.
The incident, known as an 'action slip,' on June 28th of last year caused significant disruptions for thousands of travelers as the airport was briefly shut down, leading to numerous flight cancellations and suspensions.
A report into the incident published on Thursday revealed the pilot had just come back from a period of annual leave, having last flown two weeks prior, and was 'well-rested and feeling fine'.
The pilot, who had over 6,000 hours of flying time, 'could not identify a reason' why he mixed up his hands, the Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) report added.
None of the 13 crew members or 334 passengers aboard the aircraft sustained injuries during this event; however, the flames from the right-side main wheel brakes had to be put out by firefighting personnel.
The video captured inside the aircraft displayed emergency vehicles heading towards the stopped vehicle soon after the takeoff was halted.
The report indicated that the pilot was meant to 'shift his left hand during the takeoff roll, while getting ready to pull back on the control column with his right hand.'
"However, he accidentally drew his left hand backward instead," it noted.
There wasn't an apparent cause for him being prepared to take that action... and he couldn't pinpoint one when the day arrived.
The report further indicated: "The co-pilot mentioned he was well-rested and felt good. He expressed astonishment at his own accidental decrease in thrust and couldn’t pinpoint why it happened."
The airport rescue and firefighting team responded to the aircraft and put out a fire originating from the hot brakes on the right main landing gear, according to the AAIB report.
The aircraft attained approximately 167 knots (192 mph) before starting to decelerate.
A statement from Gatwick at the time of the incident last year said the plane had been abandoned 'due to the departing aircraft having hot breaks'.
A representative further stated: "Ensuring safety remains our primary concern, and the specialized airport fire brigade promptly responded to assist the aircraft."
'A number of flights were diverted. The runway is now open and operating as normal.'
According to travel expert Simon Calder at least 12 flights were diverted including an Emirates A380 flight from Dubai that was instead forced to land in Brussels.
A representative from British Airways stated back then: "The pilots opted to cancel departure as a preventive measure because of a technical problem."
'Customer safety remains our primary concern, and we apologize for any disruption experienced.'
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