British Airways pilots are to ballot for industrial action over the airline's plans to set up a separate subsidiary to launch services between continental Europe and the US.

The decision to vote on strike action comes only days after the crash-landing of a BA long-haul jet at Heathrow Airport last Thursday, in which the flight crew were described as "heroes" by the chief executive Willie Walsh for the "great courage and professionalism" they showed in landing the aircraft safely. The crash, the first involving a Boeing 777, is under investigation by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch of the Department for Transport.