A British Airways flight from London Heathrow to Chicago declared an emergency over Ireland and descended 28,000 feet before returning safely to Heathrow. The Boeing 777-200ER, operating as flight BA295, made a U-turn after a technical issue prompted pilots to deploy oxygen masks for passengers and crew.
Rapid descent and diversion
The aircraft departed Heathrow's Terminal 5 at 11.50am on Monday, October 5, bound for Chicago O'Hare International Airport on a scheduled eight hours and 40-minute flight. It had climbed to its cruising altitude of 37,000 feet when it encountered an issue and declared an emergency, according to flight-tracking data cited by the Mirror.
The plane descended rapidly from cruising altitude to around 9,000 feet. Footage from inside the cabin captured the moment oxygen masks were deployed for passengers and crew during the incident.
Return to Heathrow
After burning fuel off the coast of Wales, the aircraft touched down again at Heathrow at around 5pm. British Airways confirmed the plane turned around after a technical issue.
A spokesperson for the airline 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.
"Customers disembarked the aircraft normally and our teams are working to get their travel plans back on track as quickly as possible.”
