Emergency services scrambled to BA plane after '4 passengers fall ill'

Passengers fell ill amid reports of "unknown fumes" on a British Airways flight landed at Heathrow Airport today, triggering a huge emergency response.

Firefighters, ambulance crews and hazardous response teams raced to a plane on the runway at Terminal 5, which is understood to have arrived from Barcelona at around 4.15pm. Four people were treated and discharged at the scene.

No elevated chemical readings were detected inside the aircraft, said London Fire Brigade. One person wrote they'd been "locked on a plane for an hour and a half", while another tweeted: "Major police operation at Heathrow T5 tonight."

A passenger shared photos of crews wearing hazmat suits (James Cheadle)

Another passenger shared photos of crews wearing hazmat suits, writing: "Scenes at #Heathrow T5 as the BA flight from Barcelona has had its crew fall sick upon landing, and the passengers are being held on the runway."

They continued: "No information other than smoke/fumes were detected in the cockpit and some cabin crew have been told to strip after falling ill. We’ve all now been herded into some departure gates."

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Dozens of passengers were seen waiting outside the plane (James Cheadle)

The Metropolitan Police confirmed that it attended the incident. A spokesman said: "Police were called at 16:15hrs on Sunday, 8 October to reports of passengers taken unwell on a flight into Heathrow Airport. Emergency services attended. Four people were treated at the scene."

The London Ambulance Service said it sent a hazardous area response team, three medics, two advanced parramedic practitioners, two ambulance crews and two incident response officers to the scene. A spokesperson said: "We were called today (8 October) at 4.20pm to reports of an incident on Western Perimeter Road at Heathrow Airport.

Emergency services boarding the aircraft (James Cheadle)

"We sent a number of resources to the scene, including three medics in fast-response cars, two advanced paramedic practitioners, two ambulance crews, two incident response officers and members of our hazardous area response team (HART). After assessing multiple people at the scene, we treated three patients and discharged them."

Passengers waiting inside the airport's terminal (James Cheadle)

A spokesman for London Fire Brigade told the Mirror that unknown fumes were reported in the aircraft, adding: "The chemical team did a sweep of plane and found no elevated readings. It is unclear whether there are any injuries at this stage, but certainly not significantly."

A Heathrow spokesperson added: "Our teams responded to an incident reported this afternoon. The incident has now been resolved. We apologise to our passengers for any inconvenience caused."