Heathrow Airport, the busiest airport in Europe, was shut down following a fire at a single electricity sub-station on the night of March 20. The fire at the North Hyde substation in Hayes, about 1.5 miles from Heathrow in west London, seriously disrupted the area’s power supply, including that of the airport.
The closure has caused chaos, leaving thousands of passengers stranded. More than 1,300 flights have been affected, according to the plane tracking website Flightradar24. About 120 of these were already in the air.
Below, a panel of experts offer their insights – and consider the implications of such a major incident. (Elements of this panel were sourced by the Science Media Centre, which published a version here.)
