Gatwick: Disruption after plane stuck on runway

Written by Bob Dale from BBC News, South East.

Many air passengers experienced delays because Gatwick Airport had to shut down its runway because of a malfunctioning aircraft.

The airport reported that 23 flights had to be canceled because a plane had overheated brakes before takeoff.

The runway is now open and operating as usual, with the disabled aircraft being removed.

The airport announced that the runway would be shutdown for a duration of 50 minutes.

The situation revolved around a British Airways plane traveling to Vancouver, Canada.

A message from the airline stated that the pilots chose to cancel the flight just before takeoff because of a technical problem.

At our company, we always prioritize safety above all else, and we want to apologize to our customers for any inconvenience that may have been caused.

Patrick Wiltshire was on his way from his house in Dubai to see his relatives in London when his plane was redirected.

"Right before we were about to land, the plane unexpectedly changed course and headed towards Brussels," he shared with BBC Radio Sussex, speaking from the airport in Belgium.

I forgot to book a taxi and ended up missing my evening event.

There has not been much information available, so we have had to use our phones to check Twitter and see what is happening.