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Background: British Overseas Airways Corporation announced at 1 a.m. on Tuesday morning, Oct. 14, that all flights from London Airport were cancelled following a lightning strike by maintenance engineers.

The BOAC section of London Airport was at a standstill on Tuesday. Aircraft stood on the stripe and in the hangars awaiting maintenance and the Comet VI training flights for BOAC pilots were cancelled.

Over 4,000 engineers and electricians were affected by the stoppage. As strike pickets patrol the hangars the airliner's ticket desk informed passengers that no planes would be going out on Tuesday.

Many passengers found accommodation in local hotels while others returned to London.

The dispute arose out of an overtime can by BOAC maintenance men on a pay claim. On Monday afternoon BOAC asked five men of the day shift to work overtime. The rest of the engineers and electricians on duty immediately downed tools.

Later 300 men of the night staff went strike when told by union officials that the five men had been sacked. BOAC denied this. At a union meeting on Tuesday morning one union official urged the men to return to work but the majority voted for a stop-out.