London (England) - A British Airways jet has crashed just short of the runway at London's Heathrow Airport today. Flight 38 was a Boeing 777 from Beijing and was on final approach when, according to initial reports, the plane lost all power. The plane crashed several hundred meters short of the runway, but none of the 136 passengers and 16 crew were killed.

The crash happened at 1242 GMT and fortunately there was no fire after the crash. Some of the first pictures and video from the scene show the wheels collapsed into the belly of the plane and parts of the undercarriage torn off.

All the passengers were able to exit via the emergency chutes. At least thirteen people were taken to the hospital with mostly minor injuries.
Coincidentally, Prime Minister Gordon Brown's plane was just about to leave the same airport for a trip to China and India.

It's still too early to tell what caused the crash, but like many plane crashes speculation is running rampant on all the aviation websites. The one with the most lively and head-exploding detail seems to be airdisaster.com.

Read more ... BBC.