20 October 2023 , 14:08
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A British Airways captain and co-pilot were rushed to hospital after smelling a 'foul odour' and falling ill in the cockpit during a flight to London.
The pair were forced to wear oxygen masks after reporting the stench at 30,000ft in the air on Thursday morning. After making an emergency call the BA flight landed at Heathrow airport after taking off from Newcastle.
Ambulances and fire services raced to BA's Crew Report Centre, where the two pilots were assessed before being rushed to hospital. They reportedly 'keeled over' sparking fears they were suffering from smoke inhalation and may have been exposed to toxic chemicals.
A source told The Sun: "This was a shocking incident. The immediate concern is obviously for the two pilots. But also striking is the worry about what could have happened had these two cockpit crew been intoxicated when they were still at the controls of a crowded jet at 25,000ft. It doesn't bear thinking about. Investigations have started into this alarming incident."
The two pilots were behind the controls of a BA Shuttle 13C landed the Airbus A320 which landed at Heathrow Airport at 9.14am after taking off from Newcastle at 7.41am.
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A British Airways spokesman told the Mirror: "The flight landed safely and customers disembarked normally following a minor technical issue with the aircraft." London Ambulance Service said: "We were called to reports of an incident at Terminal 5 Heathrow Airport, Hounslow.
"We sent an ambulance crew, an incident response officer and members of our hazardous area response team (HART) to the scene. We treated two patients at the scene for smoke inhalation and took them to a local hospital."
On October 8 BA passengers fell ill amid reports of "unknown fumes" on a flight landed at Heathrow Airport.
The incident triggered a huge emergency response as firefighters, ambulance crews and hazardous response teams raced to Terminal 5 as the flight arrived from Barcelona. 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."