Attempts to inform Heathrow Airport’s absent chief executive about the airport’s closure due to a power failure were unsuccessful as his bedside phone was silenced, a recent investigation has revealed.

While Thomas Woldbye was asleep, key Heathrow personnel made the decision to halt operations following a fire at a nearby electrical substation.

The airport, located in west London, did not manage any flights until around 18:00 GMT on March 21 due to the incident, which began late the previous evening.

The shutdown, which impacted 270,000 passengers, was attributed to “an unprecedented set of circumstances,” according to Heathrow’s chairman, Lord Deighton, who noted that the airport’s infrastructure would be improved for future challenges.

Heathrow initiated the inquiry into the events, led by independent board member and former transport secretary Ruth Kelly.

The findings of the Kelly Review indicated that Mr. Woldbye “was not involved” when Chief Operating Officer Javier Echave made the decision shortly after 01:15 on March 21 to cease all operations until 23:59.

F24 alarm notifications were sent to Mr. Woldbye’s mobile at 00:21 and 01:52 to trigger emergency protocols, and Mr. Echave attempted to reach him multiple times.

According to the report, Mr. Woldbye became aware of the situation around 06:45 on March 21, following a briefing from Mr. Echave.

He expressed “deep regret for being unreachable during the night of the incident,” as noted in the review.

The report recommended that Heathrow explore a “secondary method of contact” for alerting key personnel during critical events.

The Sunday Times first reported that Mr. Woldbye was asleep while significant disruptions unfolded on March 21.

However, a Heathrow representative told the Daily Mail that the Sunday Times’ portrayal of the situation was “ill-informed misinformation.”

“Thomas, along with his senior leadership team, was precisely where they needed to be during an incident of this magnitude,” the spokesperson remarked.

The review determined that the airport managed the crisis “efficiently and smoothly.”

It found that the decision to immediately halt operations was a correct one and essential for the safety and security of individuals, with the decision-makers performing their roles appropriately.

“The evidence confirms that Heathrow made the right choices under exceptionally challenging circumstances. Although the disruption was considerable, alternative actions on that day would not have significantly altered the result,” Ms. Kelly stated.

In assessing Heathrow’s readiness, the report’s authors concluded that the contingency plans in place “generally functioned well.”

A pressure group advocating for regulatory reforms at Heathrow, termed Heathrow Reimagined, expressed dissatisfaction with the Kelly Review, stating that it allowed the airport to set and evaluate its standards and failed to adequately address poor contingency planning and years of inefficient expenditure that left the airport vulnerable.

The review also considered whether Heathrow should have predicted the ramifications of a power outage from the substation.

It discovered that Heathrow had deemed its high-voltage electricity supply to be robust, given that it had three distinct intakes from the National Grid, each with multiple connections to the airport and transformers at the National Grid and SSEN substations providing redundancy in case of failure.

The review characterized what occurred in March as a “low likelihood event.”

Lord Deighton remarked that the Kelly Review was “comprehensive and featured clear recommendations that management will implement moving forward.”

The disruption in March resulted in airlines incurring millions in losses and left hundreds of thousands of passengers stranded.

An interim report from the National Energy System Operator (Neso), released earlier this month, stated that the cause of the North Hyde substation fire remains undetermined.

Heathrow’s management has faced criticism for the decision to close the airport and the prolonged shutdown, particularly since Neso indicated that power had been restored seven hours before flights were resumed.

A complete report from Neso is anticipated to be released by the end of June.