15 June 2023 , 18:41
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Takeoff was AXED for a British Airways flight after passengers and crew were overwhelmed by a bad smell.
Emergency services including police and fire crews rushed to meet the Boeing 777 on the runway at London's Heathrow Airport.
A witness described the incident as "pandemonium".
Everyone on board flight BA115 was ready to depart to New York on Tuesday night before it was suddenly called off.
Speaking to a source, The Sun told how passengers complained that a mysterious smell left them feeling sick.
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A British Airways flight coming into land (Getty Images)A source told the paper: "The pilot took no chances and aborted take-off. Back on the stand, police and the fire crew came onboard to investigate but couldn’t detect any harmful fumes, just the odd smell.
"It was a huge worry because some crew had reacted with headaches, itchy eyes, and reported a metal taste in their mouth.
"At the eleventh hour, with the service about to hit the runway, the authorities decided the plane was not safe to go."
It is thought that the pungent scent came from behind a canister after the engines started up.
The flight was cancelled and passengers were rebooked on to later flights - sparking travel chaos.
The source added: "It was pandemonium and no-one knew what was happening."
Pictures from the scene showed firefighters standing outside the plane doors.
A spokesperson for British Airways told Mirror Online: "The safety of our customers and crew is always our priority and will never be compromised. We apologised to our customers for the inconvenience caused and offered an alternative flight or a full refund."
The Mirror understands it is standard procedure for emergency services to be called as a precautionary measure.
In April a flight to New York had to turn back due to a pungent smell but unfortunately for those passengers the reason was obvious.
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Passengers had clogged the toilets so badly on the eight-hour flight crew were forced to turn the plane around.
The journey from Vienna to New York was called off two hours in, after cabin crew found five of the eight toilets were unusable and couldn't flush properly, an Austrian Airlines spokesperson said.
There were around 300 people on board the flight who had to be rebooked on other flights.
According to the airline, this is the first time blocked toilets have disrupted one of their flights.
Usually flights are diverted to the nearest airport when the toilets are jammed.