This is your captain speaking ...we’ve only got 5 minutes’ fuel left

AS mid-air announcements go, it was hardly reassuring.

Indeed, passengers on the flight from the US to Heathrow yesterday were – to say the least – disconcerted when the captain told them: ‘We’ve only got five minutes of fuel left.’

The disclosure came amid chaos as planes bound for Britain’s busiest airport were diverted because of an RAF jet’s ‘unplanned’ need for Heathrow’s airspace.

At least four British Airways flights and one Virgin Atlantic plane were forced to make diversions to Gatwick, Stansted and Luton around 9am. Other flights were ‘stacked’ at Heathrow and left to circle as they waited for airspace to clear.

One of those affected was a Virgin Atlantic jet from Los Angeles. Passengers included TV producer Anne Henry, who said: ‘It was quite alarming when the captain announced after circling Heathrow for a while, “Ladies and gentlemen, we have about five to ten minutes’ fuel left so we may need to divert to Gatwick”.’

They did indeed divert, and after landing, she reported: ‘We’ve been on the ground for about an hour but we’re not allowed to get off.

‘The official line from the pilot on the tannoy has been “security incident”. Tough for the crew as they’ve only had one or two hours of sleep and have to keep going.’

The RAF said it ‘regretted’ the delays to commercial flights, but declined to clarify the reasons. The closure lasted for about 20 minutes.

The military aircraft involved was travelling from west London’s RAF Northolt, home to 32 Squadron, whose roles include flying VIPs such as the royal family and politicians.

Passengers posted on social media following the incident to ask airlines for more information.

One wrote: ‘Captain said Heathrow is closed for arrivals for a “security incident” but nothing in the news.’ An RAF spokesman said: ‘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.’

A Heathrow spokesman said: ‘Arrivals were paused briefly this morning due to an RAF request for an operational flight within part of Heathrow’s airspace. Arrivals are now returning to normal.’