British Airways Flight Declares Mid-Air Emergency, Returns to Gatwick
Airbus A321-231 bound for Faro diverted after passengers reported oxygen masks dropping and turbulence.
Sarah Connor
A British Airways flight en route to Faro, Portugal, returned to London Gatwick after declaring a mid-air emergency.
Structural damage to a window panel on the right side of the aircraft was identified, reportedly near row 3R.
Flight-tracking data showed the aircraft executing a U-turn over Brittany, France, before returning to the London airport.
a passenger window is cracked. Flight deck going through checks before deciding were to divert.
British Airways apologized to passengers for the delay, attributing the diversion to a minor technical issue.
However, the crew had identified what was described as “structural damage to a window panel on the right side of the aircraft” before issuing the emergency signal.
The damage to a passenger window may have prompted the pilots to issue the alert; some claims suggest a foreign object may have caused the damage.
Passengers were due to resume their journey following the unexpected return, though the cause of the emergency has not yet been confirmed.