Heathrow's February heist

Robbers have struck Heathrow for the second time this year. The first heist of millions in cash was a well planned operation.

While security experts at Heathrow are reeling from yet another massive robbery at Europe's busiest airport, they are still investigating how the first such incident this year took place.

On Monday 11 February, a gang of robbers got away with more than $6m in cash (£4.2m) when they raided a British Airways security vehicle at the Airport.

At least two men were involved in the heist. They held up a van in a supposedly secure area near Terminal Four and then escaped in another vehicle which bore the livery of British Airways.

The money had arrived at Heathrow from Bahrain and was ultimately bound for New York's JFK Airport.

What made the robbery particularly stand out was that it took place in an "airside" area - the supposedly super-secure zone of an airport which separates the aircraft from the public areas.

This led to speculation that not only did the robbers have legitimate security passes, but perhaps they had been aided and abetted by an insider.

Eight red cash boxes filled with dollars were taken

The 35-year-old driver of the security van was forced from his vehicle by the robbers who threw him to the ground and bound his wrists.

They then transferred eight red cargo cash boxes containing the currency into another similar British Airways van before driving undetected from the airport.

The robbery only took a few minutes and the gang apparently left the airport undetected.

The van was later found abandoned and burnt out in Feltham, Middlesex, two miles away.

Local resident Marjorie Bacon, 61, saw the van explode.

"I looked out and heard an explosion. I thought one of the neighbours' cars had blown up."

Police said there was no trace of the money or the robbers. No firearms were seen in use during the robbery, a spokesman said.

Gold bullion

The security van driver told officers at least two men attacked him. Not only was the BA getaway van genuine, it had not been reported stolen.

For BAA, the company which runs Heathrow Airport, the most important issue remains how the offenders gained access to a security-controlled zone.

Secondly, the government ordered an urgent inquiry into security at Heathrow amid fears that the airport could be at risk of a terrorist attack. That inquiry is yet to be completed.

The largest raid at the airport was the £26m Brinks Mat heist which remains Britain's biggest ever robbery.

The gang who seized the haul of gold bullion from the high security warehouse in 1983 were brought to justice but much of the gold has never been recovered.