Safety

BA 777 Crash-Lands at Heathrow

By D'arcy Doran, Associated Press Writer

posted: 17 January 2008 ET

: The undercarriage from a British Airways Boeing 777 plane flying from China that landed short of the runway is seen at London's Heathrow Airport, Thursday Jan. 17, 2008. A British Airways passenger jet crash landed Thursday at Heathrow airport, tearing its underbelly, damaging its wings and skidding to a halt before emergency chutes deployed. All 152 passengers and crew escaped safely, but eight suffered injuries. (AP Photo/Tom Hevezi)
: The undercarriage from a British Airways Boeing 777 plane flying from China that landed short of the runway is seen at London's Heathrow Airport, Thursday Jan. 17, 2008. A British Airways passenger jet crash landed Thursday at Heathrow airport, tearing its underbelly, damaging its wings and skidding to a halt before emergency chutes deployed. All 152 passengers and crew escaped safely, but eight suffered injuries. (AP Photo/Tom Hevezi)
: The undercarriage from a British Airways Boeing 777 plane flying from China that landed short of the runway is seen at London's Heathrow Airport, Thursday Jan. 17, 2008. A British Airways passenger jet crash landed Thursday at Heathrow airport, tearing its underbelly, damaging its wings and skidding to a halt before emergency chutes deployed. All 152 passengers and crew escaped safely, but eight suffered injuries. (AP Photo/Tom Hevezi)

LONDON (AP) -- A British Airways passenger jet crash landed short of the runway at Heathrow airport Thursday, skidding to a halt on its belly before emergency chutes deployed.

Three passengers on the Beijing flight were assessed for minor injuries following the crash landing.

The plane was flight BA38 from Beijing to London, British Airways said. The Boeing 777 made the emergency landing at 1242 GMT and all passengers were evacuated, airport operator BAA PLC said.

The departure of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, whose plane was awaiting takeoff on a trip to China, was delayed by the incident. His plane was not involved in the accident.

Three passengers were assessed for minor injuries following the incident, London Ambulance Service said.

The aircraft appeared to have landed just meters (yards) from a busy perimeter road, Britain's Press Association reported. The impact wrecked the undercarriage and caused extensive damage to both wings, the report said.

Fire trucks surrounded the aircraft and emergency evacuation chutes were deployed.

The prime minister's plane, which was carrying a delegation of business leaders, including Virgin chairman Richard Branson, was not involved but those onboard could see the incident in the distance.

Planes were still taking off and landing on Heathrow's northern runway, air traffic control company Nats said.