A British Airways jet flying in from Beijing on Thursday crash landed at Heathrow Airport, causing one of the airport's two runways to be closed and flight delays across Europe.

The Boeing 777 arriving from Beijing slammed down shortly after 12:30 p.m. local time Thursday, tearing its fuselage and damaging its wings. The plane's wheels appeared to collapse as it came down in the grass ahead of the airport's southern runway, witnesses said.

The jet skidded to a halt before emergency escape slides were activated. All the 152 passengers and crew managed to escape safely but three people suffered injuries. Firefighters sprayed fire retardant foam as a precaution as passengers were being evacuated.

Departures and arrivals at the southern runway were temporarily delayed while emergency workers attended to the plane. Many flights were diverted to other London airports such as Stansted and Luton. However the northern runway continued in operation. Heathrow is Europe's busiest airport for passenger traffic.

Among the travelers affected by the accident was UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, whose plane was delayed. Brown was about to leave for a visit to China with a delegation of business leaders, including Virgin's Richard Branson.

According to British Airways, the reason for the accident was unclear. Police confirmed that the incident was not an act of terrorism, however. Britain's Department of Transportation has opened an investigation into the causes of the accident.