Substation fire that shut Heathrow Airport was preventable, says watchdog report

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Energy watchdog Ofgem has launched an investigation after a report found a fire that caused the shutdown of Heathrow Airport was due to a preventable technical fault.

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00:00FIFA Airport had no flights operating until about 6pm on March 21st because of the fire

00:09at that substation in Hayes, which started late the previous night.

00:15A final report released from the National Energy System Operator has now found that

00:22the fire was likely caused by a catastrophic failure in one of the Transformers.

00:29Most likely from moisture entering the electrical insulators, known as bushings, causing a short

00:37circuit which ignited the oil.

00:40The report also said an elevated moisture reading had been found in oil samples at the substation

00:48in July 2018, but action was not taken to replace the bushings.

00:53In 2022, a decision was made to defer basic maintenance at the substation, meaning the

01:01issue went unaddressed.

01:04A review by the National Grid in 2022 found the fire suppression system at the North Hyde

01:11site was inoperable.

01:14While another assessment in July 2024 indicated the system was still out of service.

01:21Following these findings, Heathrow Airport told the BBC that it was now considering legal action

01:28against the National Grid.

01:30And the report also prompted the Hayes and Harlington MP, John McDonnell, to raise concerns in Parliament

01:40over the vulnerability of our infrastructure.

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