Gatwick diversion.

[ambidextrous]

My stepson returning from Amsterdam to Heathrow this evening was diverted to Gatwick landing at 2000LT. Since then he's been held on the aircraft whilst presumably they negotiate another slot? Reason for the diversion was said to be "fire alarms at Heathrow"!
Any ppruner at LGW or LHR know anything more?
with fraternal greetings,
ambi:ok:

[LGWWelsh]

LHR Tower evacuation 16 A/C diverted to LGW

[Scuzi]

A fire alarm was set off at Heathrow tower which meant it had to be evacuated. Multiple inbounds diverted to Gatwick, Stansted, Luton and Birmingham.

Normal service was resumed roughly 30-40 minutes after the initial evacuation.

[ambidextrous]

LGWWelsh & scuzi,
Many thanks for the update.
ambi:ok:

[Speedpig]

Diversions included Singapore A380.
Mind the bridge.

[Bearcat]

oh guys what a f@ck up......this is costing us millions if it was a false alarm which I'd bet my late granny on.

[411A]

oh guys what a f@ck up......this is costing us millions if it was a false alarm which I'd bet my late granny on.

LHR is old, old, and except for terminal five, really old, and outdated.
What else do you expect?:rolleyes:

[Fireboy]

It was a false alarm but it's better to be safe than sorry! If there was a confirmed fire in the tower look at the options for evacuation, one external lift, one internal lift and stairs.

Terminal five is not the only new building, the tower isn't that old.

[CHINOOKER]

Having just seen this news,i can fully understand the need to divert a/c elsewhere,(this supposedly is done by swanwick?),but can anyone enlighten me as to how ATC deal with the many a/c on the ground either taxying/holding for take-off etc,when something like this happens?? Do some volunteers stay behind??,or is it a n evacuation en masse and if so how do all the flight crews on these a/c get any relevant information??

[BusyB]

411A.
You are showing YOUR age and ignorance. The tower is virtually brand new:}

[Ian Brooks]

Well if the alarm was in the tower that is really new 411a

Ian

[skyedog]

but can anyone enlighten me as to how ATC deal with the many a/c on the ground either taxying/holding for take-off etc,when something like this happens?? Do some volunteers stay behind??,or is it a n evacuation en masse and if so how do all the flight crews on these a/c get any relevant information??

Heathrow control closed completely.

It was wonderfully quiet! The crews of the aircraft taxying out held their last assigned positions and used their initiative. Many aircraft shut down their engines to conserve fuel and keep their options open as the length of the delay was unknown.

Hth.

[adverse-bump]

the tower is indeed new! about 3 or 4 years. not old at all!

The a380 was impressive to see, lots of ops cars making sure it didnt hit anything, appartently! although i bet there camera's were out too!

Well done to the lgw boys and girls who kept us laughing, even though we were number 18 to push at one point!

[CHINOOKER]

Skyedog

Thanks for the info,.....However does that mean that at the time of the alarm being sounded,all the relevant controllers on each LHR frequency send out a message,or is it all automated to some degree??

[Max Angle]

You only have to look at the new tower to see why you would want to evacuate PDQ if there was a fire alarm, not many ways out and once a fire got hold in the lower "admin" building it would cut off an escape from the upper tower, not nice.

[timelapse]

CHINOOKER, there is a prescribed message which is read out on each frequency telling a/c what to do.

[kinglouis]

it was follow my leader in the sky above the south east. thay all diverted to EGKK, the delay there went instantly from 5 to 35 minutes.
ive not been on the receiving end of so many pans due fuel shortage in a long time.
however, over the last couple of hours they all slowly got airborne from gatwick to head back to heathrow.... its a shame with all its new technology the A380 that was on a BIGGIN departure couldnt find BIG in the FMS and went steaming past it.
a very, very busy sunday afternoon down in sunny swanwick.

[skyedog]

Thanks for the info,.....However does that mean that at the time of the alarm being sounded,all the relevant controllers on each LHR frequency send out a message,or is it all automated to some degree??

No automation. The controller on the departure runway (27R) simply said words to the effect of, "All aircraft standby, there is a fire alarm sounding in the tower." He then came back to say that all departures were suspended and that the tower was being evacuated. He left us with the words "Heathrow service now closed" (or similar).

The silence was bliss & we had a lovely cuppa after shutting the engines down etc.

About 25 mins later the world came alive again - we received info on the tower freq. & from our company freq. that the tower would be up & running again in about 10 mins (they had to switch all their kit on again) which gave us plenty of time to wind up the elastic band again & prepare to go. The controller then came on & started putting his big jigsaw back together & off we went.

In my view the folk in the tower handled the situation very well.

One suggestion might be that they have some handheld radios that they can grab on the way out during an evacuation so that they can broadcast a 'situation update message' to the aircraft that are still on the ground.

edit - typo

[Point Seven]

We have some handhelds, but they are solely for communicating with our Tels guys and the Incident Co-ordination Officer.

We had very little info that we could have given you. The info that you got on the radio at about 1812Z was the first that we could give you with any accuracy. It was then that we decided on what the plan was. We were a little busy trying to get all of the info together, decide whether to open the CVCR and then re-start.

What a day...

[411A]

False fire alarm in a relatively new tower building.
I wonder why this was not fixed when the tower became operational, or was it a case of someone unnecessarily pulling the lever at a fire alarm station?

It is also interesting to note that many towers in the USA have provisional ops plans in place in the event of such problems.
So, then the question becomes, why do not the folks at LHR have such alternate plans, or if they do, why were they not used?

For example, there was a small fire at the Cairo tower a few years ago, and ATC services proceeded uninterupted, from a van, parked at the airport boundry.
I know, because I was on final for 05R at the time.
So, if the Egyptians can do this, why can't the folks at LHR?

[Litebulbs]

Maybe they had a small fire?

[parabellum]

Probably, 411A, because arrivals and departures at Cairo amount to stuff all compared to LHR so controlling half a dozen aircraft from a van is quite plausible, trying to control the arrival and departures at LHR without comprehensive GMC and approach radar would probably lead to a disaster.

Nice to see that you are still so seriously jealous of the high quality of control at LHR though, (and throughout the UK).:ok:

[BestonBoard]

I'm glad to hear all is well at LHR... Would love to know the imbecile that set off the alarm though, keeping 235 pax happy locked onboard an aircraft, who have been delayed... and delayed... and delayed again, because we were grounded and couldn't push back was not the easiest of experiences! You guys that sit in the birds nests and the pointy ends deserve credit when it comes to dealing with difficult situations... When you're a member of 5 crew in that cabin with 235 angry faces glaring at you.... it's a bit difficult! Just hope the fool that caused such expense and trouble receives their just desserts!

[hotmetal]

What happens to the people on approach talking to tower?

[dixi188]

Bestonboard.
Why would 235 pax all be angry?
People need to lighten up and realise that things go wrong sometimes.

Last evening I was on BD237 from EMA to BRU and we had to divert to Ostend due to to handling agent going on strike in BRU. Only 8 pax but we just shrugged and said what next.
Taxi to BRU, arrived 4 hours late and now going to try to claim the cost back.

[Michael SWS]

False fire alarm in a relatively new tower building.
I wonder why this was not fixed when the tower became operationalFalse alarms happen from time to time in almost every building. How on earth can you "fix" a false alarm several years before it happens?

I don't really understand what you are trying to say - although it does appear that you are just determined to make some sort of point.

[LGWSTAR]

Anybody got any pictures of the Singapore A380 that was parked on stand 171 that diverted from LHR?

[quartermilltopo]

The Ozzies have got it right with the control tower at Sydney. They have an external helter-skelter arrangement to permit rapid evacuation. I tried to find a photo of it; maybe somebody has one?

[yarpos]

I'll play;

because traffic density is different between Heathrow and Cairo?

because safety standards are different between UK and Egypt?

because years have gone by and its different now?

[Sir Richard]

Try this

JetPhotos.Net Photo » YSSY Control Tower Airport by Andrew McLaughlin (http://www.jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=6276637)

[411A]

False alarms happen from time to time in almost every building. How on earth can you "fix" a false alarm several years before it happens?


With the proper type of fire alarm/confirmation equipment installed in many buildings (and control towers) in the USA.

Of course, this does not prevent a determined individual from pulling a fire alarm lever without due cause.
In the latter case, jail time is normally available for the perp, if identified.

Now, for the busiest airport in the UK to have no back-up ATC plan seems to me to have been rather....well, poor planning from the get go.
I would expect, for example, that emergency electrical power is available in the event that the mains power becomes unserviceable (a design feature), so...why not a back up plan if the building becomes unavailable?

Making excuses seems hardly appropriate for such a vital ATC function.

[triton140]

The Ozzies have got it right with the control tower at Sydney. They have an external helter-skelter arrangement to permit rapid evacuation.


Here's a photo from Xenedis Photography (http://www.xenedis.net)

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2252/2268261050_b7cc2f80ee.jpg

EDIT: Beaten!

[Maude Charlee]

Nice to see LGW were fully prepared for the arrival of the 380.

"Erm, if you wouldn't mind holding there old chap while we go aout and measure the taxiways"

:}

Good to see the airfield management put a great deal of thought and effort into the situation before declaring themselves as suitable for A380 diversions. The fact that the a/c might want to leave the runway and park up on a stand at some point clearly comes as a startling surprise. :ugh:

Equally, handlers had no idea where to position the steps, and being unable to communicate with the flight deck, had to relay messages via the LGW ground freq. Didn't the crew have the freq for their handling co?

Altogether a slick and impressive operation. Not.

[timelapse]

411A - what makes you think there isn't a contingency plan? There is a fully fledged comprehensive plan to provide ATC services in the event of a tower evacuation involving moving all operational staff to the Contingency VCR and running the operation from there.

Believe it or not, it takes time to evacuate people, count everyone out, collect all the equipment required and then drive all the staff to the new location, set up the equipment and resume the operation. :ugh: :ugh:

[411A]

There is a fully fledged comprehensive plan to provide ATC services in the event of a tower evacuation involving moving all operational staff to the Contingency VCR and running the operation from there.



Well now, timelapse, that sounds better.
Now all the folks at LHR have to do is actually use the plan (on short notice) that (hopefully) is in place.:rolleyes:

[monkeyworld]

I glanced out my window last night and noticed a Thai Air 747 doing a missed approach from 200ish ft. By the time I got the radio onto 27L they were telling the next plane (a Shamrock) to go round. Then "Tower is being evacuated. Aerodrome Service Ends." (I think). Then silence. However 40 secs later the Thai made two forlorn calls to Heathrow Tower -guess he hadn't heard hadn't heard there was nobody home! Last saw him at 2000ft heading off towards Terminal 5....

[radeng]

To save money, fire alarms these days often use radio rather than fireproof wires. Result is that because there aren't any dedicated frequencies for this application, the possibility of a false alarm is fairly high. One method is to 'poll' each sensor and if no answer is received after a number of polls, to 'alarm'. So a blocked radio channel can easily lead to a false alarm.

[10bob]

I was travelling back to LHR from GLA last night. You don't hear it said often, but kudos to the BA Captain who came out to the face the hordes both in the terminal building and in the Terraces lounge, when lets face it they didn't have a whole heap of information to tell us. But he was open, honest, and promised to keep us informed - can't ask for much more than that.

And kudos also to ATC and BA Ops. To be honest, being on only a domestic flight at 6.30pm, due into LHR which is bad at the best of times but must be horrid after having been been completely closed for an hour or so, I'll be honest and say I fully expected to spend another night in GLA. In the end, it was only about 2 hours delay; struck me as an absolute result.

[MrMalev]

I was in LHR last night when it all kicked off waiting in T5. Luckily the BA870 to Budapest already had an aircraft available, unlike 8 or 9 other flights which had to be cancelled.

BA seemed to handle it fairly well, although the screens were stuck at 'Enquire Airline' for a good 20 minutes before they all began to actually display cancelled one by one. Customer Services only had a few minutes waiting time to get to someone to find out what was happening, with PAX on cancelled flights being escorted down through either A12 or A1 to collect their luggage before then being sent up to Customer Services in Zone E. The line to get out of A12 though must have run to a couple of hundred people at least.

Those infront of me finding out information from Customer Services were told they'd get a full refund, accommodation and rebooking. One of the BA agents did suggest that flights were being cancelled either down to the desire to prevent later disruption, or that if they ran flights the delay would mean they'd be flying into Germany too late (?)

On the other hand, although 870 was going there was no information made available on screens until 25 minutes after the scheduled departure, eventually leaving around 90 mins late - though, fairplay, it's the first time I've actually heard them apologise onboard for a delay

[HeathrowAirport]

Can anyone Confirm were the A380 parks>?

I heard it goes of FR and onto the holding area near 08R/L

Is this true or is there a gate or parking stand were it can fit?

[SpringHeeledJack]

I was travelling back from DUS to LHR last night and would like to congratulate the BA crew on how they handled the situation. The cap'n came out, explained the situation and we were served with refreshments by the cabin crew and kept up to date with the slot time until we were ready to go.

As far as contingency planning by BAA or ATC for such a situation.......well i'd have to side with 411A and wonder why there wasn't a 'mobile' control tower on hand to keep the fluidity of the imminent landing/departing aircrafts going. These things happen seldomly, but when they do the effects can be far reaching. It would be nice to think that in such a crowded airspace as the London TMA there should be a fall-back system that should there have really been a fire, that it wouldn't have necessitated the amount of time to set up again in the old tower.

Btw, was the old equipment left ready for such a situation ?

Anyway, well done to all in difficult circumstances.


Regards


SHJ

[Rainboe]

If you think LHR can simply switch into a back-up operation, you need your head examined! How? Ground movement control would be a disaster. Progress would slow to an absolute stall that all traffic may as well just hold position or divert. The operation would become dangerous. Some sense instead of blind calls for back-up would be a start!

[k3lvc]

I too suffered T5 last night - not too bad a show from BA given the high number of cancellations. A nice bed for the night and a new ticket for this morning although would have been easier to announce canx at 19.45 rather that 21.00 when we were unlikely to land in GVA anyway.

Highlight of the evening was being dealt with by Jeremy Spake at the BA Cust Service desk - is he T5's latest weapon ??

[HeathrowAirport]

Anyone know were the A380 parks at Gatwick?

[bbrown1664]

It looked like it was on the taxyway on Sunday night.

[Gonzo]

Do those who think we in LHR ATC should be able to immediately switch to a contingency facility understand that to do so we would need to fully staff the back up facility 24/7 to enable us to do this?

As Timelapse says, we do have a back up VCR, as well as an evac plan. To be an effective contingency, by definition it needs to be some distance away from our main VCR to provide redundancy. That distance means that it does take a period of time for ATCOs and Assistants to get there and open things up.

[HeathrowAirport]

What one ?

J?