The disruption followed a massive fire at a substation in Hayes, west London, which caused widespread power outages and forced the airport’s closure.
Andrew Sri, his wife, and their three young children had flown from Dallas, Texas, to England to visit his sister, Andrea, who lives in Greenwich.
The family was scheduled to return to Dallas on Friday, only to discover upon arrival at Heathrow that their flight would not be departing.
READ MORE: Heathrow Airport will be closed all day following electrical substation fire
“I just wish they had updated us accordingly,” Mr. Sri said.
Stranded on the terminal’s roundabout, he and his family waited for updates, unsure of what to do next.
“At the moment, the schedule on our flight says it’s delayed, so that’s why we drove out. So now we’ve got here, and they told us, actually, the airport’s been shut down, so it’s a little bit disappointing,” he said.
Firefighters at the North Hyde electrical substation (Image: Jonathan Brady)His three children, aged between one and eight years old, remained asleep in the car.
“Obviously, something happened, and they’re taking precautions, and we understand that. We just wish we were given a heads-up warning not to come here,” he added.
Other passengers at Terminal 5 shared similar frustrations. Andrea Sri, who had accompanied her brother and his family to the airport, explained the confusion surrounding their travel plans.
READ MORE: Why is Heathrow Airport closed today and when will it reopen?
“On the British Airways website, it says their flight is still scheduled for 12:03. All the other flights to Dallas were cancelled, but their particular one just said delayed, so we just thought ‘maybe there’s a chance’,” she said.
“But we’ve come here, and the police said no.”
Ms. Sri, from Greenwich, expressed her frustration at the lack of communication.
“It was a waste of time. Very confusing. We tried to get in touch with British Airways, but they don’t open their telephone line until 8 a.m.,” she said.
READ MORE: LIVE updates as fire CLOSES Heathrow Airport with flights and trains cancelled
The National Grid UK confirmed the cause of the disruption:
“A fire at North Hyde substation in West London has damaged equipment, leading to a loss of power supply in the area. We are working at speed to restore power supplies as quickly as possible and will provide an update as soon as we can.”
The fire has also impacted transport services, with no Elizabeth Line trains running between Hayes & Harlington and Heathrow Airport, and severe delays reported between Paddington and Hayes & Harlington.
A government minister described the situation as unprecedented.
Ed Miliband told the BBC: “There’s obviously been a catastrophic fire at this substation, an unprecedented event actually in their experience.”
He added that officials would need to “look hard” at resilience planning for major institutions such as Heathrow Airport.
