Panic as planes diverted to make way for RAF jet

HUNDREDS of airline passengers were left panicked and stranded yesterday when their flights were diverted to make way for an RAF jet.

One captain was said to have caused alarm by telling passengers he had as little as five minutes of fuel left as the plane was redirected to Gatwick airport.

The diversions were ordered at about 9am after the RAF asked for space over London’s Heathrow airport for a plane based at Northolt – home to 32 (The Royal) Squadron.

The squadron transports members of the Royal Family andVIPs.

Re-routed planes were sent to other airports, including Gatwick, Stansted and Luton.

Disruption

TV producer Anne Henry, who was flying to Heathrow from Los Angeles, said: “It was quite alarming. The captain announced after circling Heathrow for a while, ‘Ladies and gentlemen we have about five to 10 minutes fuel left, so we may need to divert to Gatwick’.

She said she and other passengers later spent an hour on the ground without being allowed to leave the plane.

At least four Heathrow-bound British Airways flights and a Virgin Atlantic aircraft were forced to land at other airports and several other flights were delayed for up to an

A flight map, right, shows the backlog of planes yesterday. A British Airways 747, above, and a Virgin Atlantic A320, below, land at Heathrow hour. Last night, Heathrow said the “unplanned” closure lasted about 20 minutes because of “an RAF request for an operational flight within part of Heathrow’s airspace”.

Virgin Atlantic’s VS8 flight from Los Angeles to Heathrow was diverted to Gatwick. A spokesman said: “The safety of our customers and crew is always our top priority. We’re now doing all we can to get our customers to their final destination as quickly as possible.

“We’d like to apologise to our customers for the disruption to their journey and thank them for their patience.”

An RAF spokesman said:

“The

RAF can confirm that a flight was completed this morning by one of our assets from RAF Northolt.

“This flight was co-ordinated with Heathrow air traffic control but had to extend by a few minutes to complete its sortie.

“The minor delays caused civilian air traffic are regretted.” to