Heathrow crisis ‘is same as plot of Die Hard 2'
The film, starring Bruce Willis as John McClane, revolves around a terrorist attack at Washington Dulles International airport.
Col William Stuart, who is a former US Special Forces colonel, and his men cut all communications with incoming planes and disable all runway lights in an attempt to rescue a drug lord from being extradited to the United States.
The move leaves planes circling the airport and running low on fuel, with Col Stuart's men deliberately forcing a British jet to crash land, killing everyone on board.
However, following the substation fire near Heathrow, flights were diverted to airports across Europe rather than left circling the airport.
At least 1,351 flights going to and from the airport are set to be affected by the closure, with up to 291,000 passengers thought to be affected.
Counter-terrorism police are leading the investigation into the cause of the fire, with specialist detectives on site at the North Hyde electrical substation in Hayes, west London.
The officers – also known as SO15 – will play a key role in trying to establish whether or not any hostile agents were involved in triggering the blaze.
In Die Hard 2, McClane is forced to enlist the help of an airport cleaner to fight back against the terrorists and prevent a flight with his wife on board from crashing.
One user on X said: 'Anybody else see the parallels between one sub station taking out Heathrow airport and the storyline in Die Hard 2 where one power cable took out the electricity to a whole airport? Where is John McClane today when you need him?'
Another commented: 'No remote backup generators… What we can conclude is that no-one from Heathrow has ever seen Die Hard 2...'
A third added: 'Sat here thinking did the infrastructure team at Heathrow not learn from Die Hard 2?!'
In the film, McClane eventually defeats the terrorists and is reunited with his wife Holly after her plane lands safely on the runway guided by flames from McClane's previous battle.
The disruption at Heathrow on Friday was also likened to the disruption caused to air traffic in the aftermath of the Sept 11 terror attacks.
In a post on X this morning, Sir Keir Starmer said he was 'receiving regular updates' on the situation as he thanked emergency services.
A Heathrow airport spokesman said the site will be 'safely able to begin some flights later [on Friday]'.
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