British Airways flight BA295, bound for Chicago, was forced to abandon its journey after a mid-air emergency was declared over Ireland. The Boeing 777-200ER descended 28,000ft just one hour after taking off from London Heathrow Airport on Monday, October 5.
Emergency descent after takeoff
The aircraft departed from Heathrow's Terminal 5 at 11.50am, with a scheduled flight time of eight hours and 40 minutes to Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD). It had climbed to its cruising altitude of 37,000ft when pilots declared the emergency.
Flight-tracking data shows the aircraft then descended rapidly from cruising altitude to around 9,000 feet. Footage from inside the plane shows the moment oxygen masks were deployed for passengers and crew. A voice-over was heard telling passengers: "Grab the nearest oxygen mask and put it over your nose and mouth immediately."
Return to Heathrow
The plane burned fuel off the coast of Wales before touching down at Heathrow again at around 5pm. British Airways said the plane turned around after a "technical issue", reports the Manchester Evening News.
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."
