Plane fire at Stansted

FIRE crews were last night scrambled to Stansted Airport after a suspected fire in a plane preparing to take off.

Passengers were ordered to evacuate after a warning light signalled in an aircraft destined for the Channel Islands.

Pilots noticed smoke starting to appear in their cockpit as the Aurigny Air Services flight to Guernsey was on its stand preparing to take-off from the Essex airport around 7pm last night.

A spokesman for Stansted Airport said normal emergency procedures were followed and the fire brigade was called.

Firefighters attached to the airport attended and inspected the plane, but the fire was out upon arrival, a spokeswoman for Essex County Fire and Rescue said.

The spokesman for the BAA-operated airport said: "The plane was on the stand at the time and had not reached the runway.

"There was smoke in the cockpit and so the passengers were all taken off as quickly and safely as possible.

"They have now been put up in a hotel for the night and will be put on the first available flight tomorrow. No one was injured," he added.

The first of the airline's flights to Guernsey is scheduled to leave at 9.10am today.

Aurigny Air Services has served the Channel Islands since 1968. It operates scheduled services between Guernsey, Jersey, and Alderney, and to destinations in the UK and continental Europe.

The company employs around 220 staff. Approximately half are based in Guernsey, 50 in Jersey and 40 in Alderney, with the remainder in the UK and France.

Aurigny's headquarters are situated close to Guernsey Airport, and house the company's finance, marketing and administration personnel. Freight despatch and delivery is handled in a separate area at the airport.

Reservations and operations are based in Alderney

The airline could not be contacted for comment last night.