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An investigation has been launched at Heathrow airport after a memory stick reportedly containing confidential security information was found in the street. The Sunday Mirror says the USB stick – which was not encrypted and contained 2.5GB of data – was discovered by a member of the public in Ilbert Street in Queen’s Park, west London, and handed to the paper. It reportedly contained files revealing information such as security measures used to protect the Queen at the airport, the types of ID needed to access restricted areas and the locations of CCTV cameras and tunnels linked to the Heathrow...

Heathrow chiefs are reeling after a memory stick crammed with confidential information was found in the street – posing “a risk to national security”. Britain’s biggest airport launched a “very, very urgent” investigation after the Sunday Mirror alerted them to the frightening security lapse. The USB stick – containing 76 folders with maps, videos and ­documents – was not encrypted and did not require a password. The man who found it plugged it into a library computer and was alarmed at what he saw. It revealed: The exact route the Queen takes when using the airport and security measures used...

A pro-ISIS twitter account has threatened attacks at London Heathrow, LAX and New York's JFK airports over the July 4 holiday weekend. The account said that attacks would be carried out on planes 'flying from Heathrow [Airport] to the US' and warned that 'there will be a device placed in either Heathrow, LAX or JFK airports.' The threat was revealed by SITE Intelligence Group - the world's leading non-governmental counterterrorism organization - on its website.

Volcanic Ash To Close London's Heathrow Airport By JENNIFER QUINN, Associated Press Writer LONDON – Europe's busiest airport was set to close early Monday morning as a dense crowd of volcanic ash drifts across England from Iceland, aviation authorities said. The airspace over London's Heathrow Airport will be closed at 1 a.m. Monday (0000 GMT; 7 p.m. EDT), Britain's National Air Traffic Service said in a statement late Sunday night. The restrictions affecting Heathrow — as well as Gatwick, Stansted, and London City airports — will be in place until at least 7 a.m. Monday, the aviation authority said. Airports...

LONDON: A Dubai-bound Emirates flight with more than 300 passengers on board was grounded minutes before it was due to take off from Heathrow airport on Friday night after three men sparked a terror alert when they reportedly made a “verbal threat”, though it was not known what exactly they said. Armed officers stormed the plane and the men — all white and aged 58, 48 and 36 — were arrested on suspicion of making a bomb threat. The plane was then moved to a safe area and evacuated.

A passenger has been charged with making a bomb threat which grounded a plane at London's Heathrow Airport on Friday night. Robert Fowles, 58, from Dover, Kent, was also charged with being drunk on an aircraft, the Metropolitan Police said. Alexander McGinn, 48, who is also from Dover, was also charged with being drunk on an aircraft. Armed police boarded the Dubai-bound Emirates flight after remarks were made to cabin crew. Mr Fowles, who lives in Edred Road, Dover, will appear from custody at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Sunday. Mr McGinn, of Lowther Road, has been bailed and will appear...

AUTHORITIES at London's Heathrow airport are investigating a security alert on board a plane bound for Dubai, amid reports that armed police had surrounded a passenger. A spokesman for airport operator BAA confirmed " a security incident on an Emirates plane going to Dubai". He said he had no further details about the incident and added: "It is only affecting that one plane, the rest of the flights at Heathrow are operating." Sky News television reported that armed police had boarded the plane after a passenger made a verbal threat and took a man off in handcuffs.

RESIDENTS in a village that would be demolished to make way for a third Heathrow runway fear time has run out in their battle against the bulldozers. Sipson, which is already overshadowed by Britain's biggest airport, will be wiped off the map if the Government approves the expansion plan. The decision is only days away, but the people who live in Sipson's 700 homes are resigned to losing their fight. Mark Bridle, 38, a carpenter, said: "It seems like Gordon Brown is going to say yes to the runway, but people are never going to give up. I don't think...

Airlines were urged yesterday to implement safety measures to reduce the risk of ice restricting fuel flow, after the crash of a British Airways jet at Heathrow earlier this year. A report, the fifth to be released by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) into the incident, concluded that the crash, on January 17, was probably caused by ice within the fuel-feed system. Now the AAIB wants aviation regulators to introduce interim measures for all Boeing 777s powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 800 engines to prevent a similar incident. It also wants watchdogs to consider the implications of the findings for...

A "man wearing a T-shirt depicting a cartoon character holding a gun was stopped from boarding a flight by the security at Heathrow's Terminal 5," The BBC reported on June 1. Brad Jayakody, from Bayswater, central London, said he was "stumped" at the objection to his Transformers T-shirt. Mr. Jayakody, a clean-shaven young man with eyeglasses and short hair, said the incident happened in mid May, when he was challenged by an official during a pre-flight security check. "He says, 'We won't be able to let you through because your T-shirt has got a gun on it'," Mr. Jayakody told...

An Afghan hijacker who forced an airliner to fly to Britain is now working at Heathrow, it has been disclosed. Nazamuddin Mohammidy, 34, was one of a gang of nine that threatened to blow up an internal flight in Afghanistan, along with 173 passengers and crew, unless they were granted political asylum. The Afghan hijackers forced the Boeing 727 to divert to Britain where they surrendered to police and the SAS after a 70-hour stand-off at Stansted Airport, Essex in Mohammidy, of Hounslow, Middlesex, is now working as an office cleaner for British Airways. The discovery came after he...

LONDON (Reuters) - Up to 18 suicide bombers may have planned to take part in an Islamist terrorist plot to blow up transatlantic airliners which could have killed more than 1,500 people, a London court heard on Thursday. Prosecutors said a gang of Britons planned to simultaneously explode passenger aircraft in mid-air between London's Heathrow airport and the United States and Canada. They were close to putting their scheme into action when they were arrested in August 2006, the court was told. "It is the prosecution case that these men and others were engaged in a deadly plan designed to...

Safe and sound: World's largest passenger plane touches down at Heathrow airport Last updated at 19:36pm on 18th March 2008 The world's biggest passenger plane, the Airbus A380, completed its first commercial flight to Europe at Heathrow Airport today. Aviation minister Jim Fitzpatrick was among dignitaries at Heathrow to greet the Rolls-Royce-powered Singapore Airlines plane, whose wings are made in the UK. The 240ft-long aircraft had been given a rousing send-off by staff at Singapore's Changi Airport and it was met at Heathrow by a water cannon salute from fire brigade crews after its 6,800-mile journey. Scroll down for more......

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THE pilot of the British Airways aircraft that crash-landed at Heathrow said he feared the flight would end in “catastrophe” as he struggled to cope with a double engine failure just two miles from touchdown. First Officer John Coward, 41, said both engines lost power simultaneously, leaving him with just seconds to bring the aircraft down. -- snip -- Investigators examining the wreckage of flight BA038 are now focusing on the theory that the crash was caused by a failure in the avionics and electronics systems that control the plane’s engines. . . . A senior industry source said: “....

1. Birds Could birds have got into the engine? "Bird Strike" is a well-known problem in aviation. Even a few birds could break a component which would be sucked into the rest of the engine. # Co-pilot saved stricken Heathrow airliner They can also interrupt the airflow, which is vital. The damage would depend on how many had been ingested. Accident investigators search the area for debris from the crashed jet Accident investigators search the surrounding area for debris from the crashed jet The strange sound of the engine has given this theory some credence. But Heathrow is regarded as...

The real hero of the Heathrow crash landing was revealed yesterday as a man named Coward. Straight after the drama Captain Peter Burkill was praised for safely bringing down his stricken Boeing 777 with 136 passengers on board. But Captain Burkill admitted yesterday that Senior First Officer John Coward was at the controls when the plane suffered a catastrophic power failure in both engines 40 seconds from landing. The initial investigation report confirmed both engines had failed two miles from the airport. "Flying is about teamwork - and we had an outstanding team on board yesterday," said the 43-year-old father...

LONDON - The engines on a British Airways plane that crash-landed at London's Heathrow airport failed to respond for a demand to increase thrust, a preliminary accident report said Friday. Using flight recorder information, investigators will focus on what other systems might have caused the engine failure, according to the report from Britain's Air Accidents Investigation Branch. The British Airways Boeing 777 made a crunching touchdown short of the runway on Thursday, ripping off the plane's landing gear and severely damaging the two engines and wings. Nineteen injuries were reported among the 152 people aboard. "The aircraft speed reduced and...

An international passenger plane has crash landed short of the runway at Heathrow Airport. Passengers escaped down the emergency chutes after British Airways flight BA38 from Beijing came down. Six ambulances were sent to the scene and three people were treated at the scene for minor injuries. The incident happened as Prime Minister Gordon Brown was due to leave Heathrow for China and India. His flight was delayed because of the incident. The south runway is closed while investigators examine the scene - the north runway remains open. Eyewitness John Rowland said: "The plane's wheels collapsed, doors were flown open....

The British Airways plane which crash landed at Heathrow apparently lost all power and avionics coming in to land. An unnamed worker at Heathrow said the pilot of the BA flight, which was carrying 136 passengers, deserved "a medal as big as a frying pan". The worker, who spoke to the pilot shortly after the dramatic landing, said: "He told me the aircraft shut down and lost power. "He glided it across and managed to get the nose up. It happened very close to coming in to land, probably over Hounslow. "Everything was normal and there was no warning or...