Passengers escaped down the emergency chutes after British Airways flight BA038 from Beijing crash-landed at Heathrow Airport, one of the world’s busiest airports.

The Boeing Co. 777, transporting 136 passengers from Beijing to London, made an emergency landing at 12:42 p.m., airport owner BAA Ltd., said in a statement, the Associated Press reported.

Pictures show the plane grounded on tarmac after touching down several hundred meters short of the airport’s south runway, close to a perimeter road. The undercarriage, left wing and left engine of the aircraft appeared severely damaged as it had skidded across the ground. At least one of the planes’ wheels had been torn off.

A spokesperson for London Ambulance Service said three passengers were assessed for minor injuries following the incident.

Fire engines rushed to the plane, spraying it with foam. The passengers were evacuated by emergency chutes.

British Airways said they had no comment to offer on why the plane came down.

"It turned about 90 degrees on landing. Its wheels were not down. Within minutes, fire crews arrived and evacuated all the passengers," eyewitness Steve Bell told BBC News 24.

Following the incident, Heathrow’s southern runway had been closed, but the northern runway remained open. However, the incident led to major delays for passengers.

“I’m beginning to realize we have had a close door. I’m a bit shaken, but feeling quite lucky. There seems to have been no major injuries. Everything seemed like a normal landing, until we hit the tarmac very roughly, but it wasn't until we were coming off the grass, that we realized the entire undercarriage was missing. We landed on the grass about 100 ft from the runway. The oxygen mask was coming down and the neon lights came up. BA have been dealing with the situation very well," he said Jerome Ensink, a passenger who was evacuated from the plane, the Times Online reported.

The incident happened as Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Sir Richard Branson, the Virgin boss were about to leave Heathrow for a five-day trade visit to China and India. Their flight was delayed because of the incident, but their jet was not directly involved.

A spokesperson for London’s Metropolitan Police said there was nothing to suggest that the incident was terror-related.