Engineer falls 20ft from British Airways jet at Heathrow airport

The Health and Safety Executive is making enquiries into the incident

British Airways planes at London Heathrow's Terminal 5 (Getty Images)

A British Airways engineer working on a stationary aircraft plummeted 20ft onto concrete at London’s Heathrow airport.

The unnamed man was examining the auxiliary power unit on the tail of a parked aircraft when the fall happened.

The incident occurred in the early hours of Sunday morning at the UK flag carrier’s engineering base, according to the Sun.

Emergency services were summoned, including London’s Ambulance Service, at just after 2am. The man’s condition is currently unknown.

Airline engineers are responsible for keeping an airline’s fleet safe, reliable and airworthy through maintenance, repair and operational support.

In a statement to The Independent, the London Ambulance Service said:

“We were called at 2.07am on Sunday 7 December to reports of an incident on Vanguard Way, Heathrow airport.

“We sent resources to the scene including an ambulance crew, an advanced paramedic and an incident response officer. We also dispatched a trauma team in a car from London’s Air Ambulance.

“Our first paramedics arrived on scene in approximately four minutes.

“We treated a man at the scene and took him to a major trauma centre as a priority.”

A spokesperson for British Airways told The Independent: “Our thoughts are with our colleague and we’re supporting them, their family and their colleagues.

“Safety is always our highest priority and we’re assisting the authorities with their enquiries.”

A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) spokesperson told The Independent: “We are aware and making enquiries”.

Heathrow airport declined to comment to The Independent.

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