Urban explorers have uncovered the decaying remains of British Airways' former flagship training facility at Heathrow, complete with flight simulators worth millions left to rot. The Cranebank centre, which once trained 17,000 cabin crew and 4,000 pilots, closed in 2016 and was replaced by a £10 million Global Learning Academy.
Explorers from the group Hell on Earth gained access to the site earlier this month, discovering fully kitted-out simulators, training manuals, and floppy disks used for flight instruction. In one section, a Boeing 747 cockpit and part of the passenger cabin were found, appearing almost ready for use.
The site, patrolled by security only once an hour, also contained classrooms covered in mould and moss, and a room full of old communication equipment. At least three large simulators, potentially worth millions, were left behind. Parts of the centre were reportedly used for storage during the pandemic, but its future remains uncertain.
An airline insider told the Sun in 2021: “It's a spooky scene inside the former BA training centre. It's a sad sight, and unbelievable that Cranebank was seemingly abandoned overnight. It could be a scene from a post-apocalyptic action movie.”
British Airways last commented on the site last year, stating it had not been used for “several years”. Former trainees expressed dismay online, with one recalling: “The offices had no expense spared on them and it's criminal to see it like this.”
