The fire at an electrical substation in March led to a catastrophic shutdown of Heathrow Airport for over 12 hours, resulting in the disruption of more than 1,000 flights. British government regulators released a report early Wednesday, attributing the fire to a short circuit in a transformer that had not been properly maintained for nearly eight years.
The report disclosed that issues with a critical component known as a bushing were identified back in 2018 but were left unresolved. Maintenance work was deferred in 2022, and the last routine check on the transformer, labeled SGT3, was carried out by the National Grid Electricity Transmission company in July 2018. Despite several attempts to schedule needed maintenance, the work was never completed.
The electricity outage raised alarms among travelers, airlines, and political figures about the fragility of the UK's electrical infrastructure. Prime Minister Keir Starmer expressed deep concern over the incident, emphasizing that it raised significant questions regarding the airport's operations and safety measures.
The report indicated that Heathrow's internal power systems lacked the design to swiftly reroute power from two nearby substations that remained unharmed during the event. Airport officials had not anticipated facing such an expansive power failure and were not prepared to handle the situation efficiently, which left the airport dependent on an outdated internal electrical distribution system reliant on manual operations for switching power supplies.
Authorities continue to face scrutiny as they evaluate the implications of this incident for national electrical resilience and safety protocols at crucial transport hubs.
