Attempts to tell Heathrow airport’s sleeping chief executive that the airport had been closed because of a power outage failed because his bedside phone was on silent, an inquiry has found.
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00:00So the latest in a long running story since that power outage on the 21st of March, Heathrow commissioned an inquiry into what happened, led by former Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly, who is an independent member of the airport's board.
00:18The Kelly Review found that Mr. Waldby was not involved in the decision taken by the airport's chief operating officer, Javier Echave, at 1.15am on March 21st to suspend operations until 11.59pm.
00:35Mr. Waldby's mobile was on his bedside table, but he was unaware of multiple attempts to alert him to the situation as the device was on silent mode.
00:49Alerts known as F24 alarms were sent to Mr. Waldby's mobile at 12.21am and 1.52am to activate emergency procedures, and Mr. Echave tried to call him several times.
01:03It's added Mr. Waldby first became aware of the incident at approximately 6.45am on March 21st and received a debrief from Mr. Echave.
01:15The review stated that Mr. Waldby expressed his deep regrets at not being contactable during the night of the incident.
01:24The review recommended that Heathrow considers having a second means of contact to notify key individuals about critical incidents.
01:36It concludes that the decision to suspend operations after the power outage was correctly made.
01:43The review reviewed by the