British Airways flight returns to London after dropping more than 27,000ft in minutes
A long-haul flight to Chicago had to make a U-turn back to Heathrow (Picture: Yui Mok/PA Wire)
A British Airways flight from Heathrow was forced to return after hours in the air following a technical glitch.
Passengers on board the BA295 flight from London Heathrow to Chicago were left confused following a sudden U-turn.
The Boeing 777 took off from the UK’s busiest airport at about 12.15pm yesterday and headed towards Ireland ahead of the Atlantic crossing.
But less than an hour in the air, as the aircraft had reached 36,000ft, it suffered an issue.
Within minutes, the jet dropped to 9,000ft before turning around to the UK coast as it declared a general emergency, tracking website Flightradar24 shows.
Sign up for all of the latest stories
Start your day informed with Metro’s News Updates newsletter or get Breaking Newsalerts the moment it happens.
The plane then criss-crossed above the Bristol Channel for a couple of hours, believed to be to lighten the fuel weight before attempting to land.
A map shows the route of flight BA295 scheduled from Heathrow to Chicago (Picture: Flightradar24)
The flight touched down at Heathrow shortly after 4pm.
British Airways said in a statement: ‘The aircraft landed safely after our highly trained pilots returned to Heathrow following a technical issue.
‘Customers disembarked the aircraft normally and our teams are working to get their travel plans back on track as quickly as possible.’
The Boeing 777 plane involved entered service 30 years ago, aircraft registration data shows.
It is thought to be one of the oldest in BA’s fleet of almost 300 aircraft.
Aviation enthusiasts commented on the incident on social media, with many saying they spotted the plane flying low in real time.
One commentator said on X: ‘Just flown VERY LOW over head going into Bristol Channel.’
Another person said: ‘Must be so much fun to sit on a plane for 5 hours only to return back to where you began.’
Hospital lockdown: Pneumonic plague fears after scientist died ‘dropping test tube of pathogens’ News Daria Shipilova, 28, laboratory assistant is reported by Russian media as the country’s first fatal pneumonic plague case in years (Picture: Daria Shipilova/e2w) Vladimir Putin has been accused of covering up a deadly pneumonic ‘black death’ plague outbreak. Five hospitals and a college have reportedly been placed in immediate lockdown…
Glastonbury 2027 sells out in minutes after releasing most expensive tickets in festival history Entertainment Glastonbury 2027 sold out in just 42 minutes (Picture: Getty) Glastonbury 2027 has officially sold out after a cutthroat morning of ticket sales ahead of its most expensive year ever. The iconic UK music festival is back after a fallow year, meaning there’s plenty of anticipation for its grand return…
Huge power cut hits 32 London postcodes – see full list News Parts of east and central London are affected (Picture: Getty Images) Thousands of homes and businesses in London were plunged into darkness on Monday morning following a major power cut. Offices and residential buildings across the centre of the capital and east London were affected by the outage at around…
Visitors to London parks warned to be wary of ‘aggressive’ animal this autumn News A red deer stag pictured at sunrise in Richmond Park (Picture: Getty Images) Visitors to two major London parks have been warned to steer clear of deer during the rutting season. Families have been told to stay safe in Richmond and Bushy parks, two of the capital’s best-loved green spaces,…
The Reason Prince Harry Could Appear on British TV Soon Entertainment <p id="par-1_65">When it was announced that <a href="https://www.cheatsheet.com/tag/prince-harry/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Prince Harry</a> and <a href="https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/prince-harry-was-able-to-marry-meghan-markle-because-she-didnt-do-this-1-thing-in-her-past.html/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Meghan Markle</a> were returning to the U.K. after moving to America six years earlier, people weren’t sure what to make of it. There was speculation about the possible reasons. Did the couple need…
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.
