British Airways flight to Chicago declares emergency after ‘dropping 28,000ft in minutes’ while flying over Ireland
A British Airways flight bound for Chicago declared an emergency after making a sudden and steep descent while flying over Ireland.
BA Flight BA295, a Boeing 777-200ER heading from London Heathrow to Chicago O’Hare, departed Heathrow’s Terminal 5 at around 12.14pm on its scheduled transatlantic service.
The aircraft climbed to approximately 37,000ft early in its journey before unexpectedly beginning a rapid descent.
The airline said the plane had experienced a ‘technical issue’ forcing it to head back towards the UK.
According to flight-tracking data, the plane eventually landed back at Heathrow just after 5pm following a diversion which saw it do several lengths of Bristol Channel.
The long-haul aircraft had dropped around 28,000ft, reaching an altitude of approximately 9,000ft within minutes, data shows.
The crew subsequently transmitted a 7700 emergency squawk – the internationally recognised transponder code used by pilots to alert air traffic control to a general emergency.
A spokesman for BA said: ‘The safety of our customers and crew is always our top priority, and the aircraft landed safely after our highly trained pilots returned to Heathrow following a technical issue.
A British Airways flight bound for Chicago declared an emergency after making a sudden and steep descent while flying over Ireland (Stock Photo)
‘Customers disembarked the aircraft normally and our teams are working to get their travel plans back on track as quickly as possible.’
The reason for the emergency has not been confirmed.
A rapid descent to an altitude of around 10,000ft or below can be carried out as a precaution in response to a suspected cabin-pressure problem, allowing the aircraft to reach an altitude where passengers and crew can breathe without supplemental oxygen.
However, there is currently no confirmation that depressurisation was responsible for the incident.
The aircraft was reported to be continuing over central Ireland while the crew communicated with air traffic control and assessed its options.
The pilots may choose to divert to an airport depending on the nature of the problem and the aircraft’s condition.
BA295 was scheduled to complete the approximately eight-hour-40-minute journey from London to Chicago, but the emergency has forced the flight to abandon its planned transatlantic route.
The Boeing 777-200ER involved is around 30 years old and is one of BA’s long-haul aircraft.
