A plane aborted take-off on a Gatwick runway after its co-pilot muddled up his left and right, investigators have found, writes BBC.

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said the error resulted in the aircraft’s brakes catching fire.

The 28 June incident - involving a British Airways flight to Vancouver, Canada - led to a 50-minute runway closure and 23 cancelled departures at the West Sussex airport. A British Airways spokesperson said: “Safety is always our highest priority and our pilots brought the aircraft to a safe stop”. Gatwick Airport said it would not be commenting. A 13-person crew and 334 passengers were on board during the incident, according to the AAIB report. Investigators said the co-pilot “unintentionally” moved a lever to his left when he was supposed to move a lever to his right instead.

This reduced the Boeing 777 aircraft’s thrust at a time when the aircraft’s commander called for the plane to start pulling up, they said. According to the investigation’s findings, the co-pilot “momentarily” sped up again before abandoning take-off. The plane “stopped some distance before the end of the runway” but airport firefighting crews were called to put out a fire on the right-hand landing gear. There were no reported injuries.

3