An Air India flight was forced to divert to London Heathrow Airport on Thursday evening after declaring a mid-air emergency over the UK. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, operating as flight AI117 from Amritsar, India, issued a Squawk 7700 emergency code as it approached Birmingham Airport amid heavy snowfall from Storm Goretti.
The emergency was triggered by a 'Minimum Fuel' situation, according to aviation reports. The aircraft had been in a holding pattern, depleting its fuel reserves to a level deemed unsafe for further circling. The emergency code gave the plane priority handling from Air Traffic Control (ATC).
Birmingham Airport had suspended all runway operations due to heavy snow, with visibility dropping below 500 metres—below the minimum required for landing. The flight was rerouted to Heathrow, where longer runways and advanced instrument landing systems provided a higher safety margin. The aircraft landed safely in London.
Birmingham Airport confirmed the suspension on Thursday evening, advising passengers to contact their airlines for updates. Flights to Paris, Bergamo, Geneva, and Delhi were among those cancelled or delayed, along with services from Edinburgh, Belfast, Paris, and Amsterdam.
By Friday morning, the airport reported that teams were completing final snow clearance and safety checks, but runway operations remained suspended. Dozens of flights to and from Heathrow and Luton Airports were also cancelled. The Met Office issued weather warnings, with chief forecaster Steve Willington predicting further snow and ice over the weekend.
