London Heathrow Airport shutdown impacts Bay Area travelers Friday
SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — A large overnight fire broke out near London's Heathrow Airport, impacting hundreds of thousands of travelers across the world on Friday, including those in the Bay Area.
A large explosion at an electrical substation 2 miles from Heathrow knocked out power as well as backup power to the airport, according to UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
London-bound passengers at San Francisco International Airport were stranded Friday morning after a flight departed overnight and had to make a U-turn once Heathrow was shut down. Now, they are right back where they started in San Francisco and scrambling to rebook their flights to London.
Disgruntled passengers from the red-eye flight could be seen collecting their baggage at the carousel after wasting several hours on the 'plane to nowhere.'
'We were probably roughly halfway across the journey until we were notified by the pilot that we had to turn back to San Francisco,' passenger Jamie White said after the return to SFO. 'So here we are. I almost got home. Here I am again.'
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Other passengers said they received hotel vouchers from the airline.
Heathrow, one of the world's busiest airports for international travel, is expected to remain closed for the rest of Friday.
'We expect significant disruption over the coming days, and passengers should not travel to the airport under any circumstances until the airport reopens,' the airport said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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