London Heathrow emergency landing: Emergency services surround British Airways flight
A BRITISH AIRWAYS flight was forced to abort its journey to Verona and return to London Heathrow Airport, sparking an emergency services response.
Heathrow: Fire engines surround plane after emergency landing
One passenger shared a video of fire engines greeting the plane's arrival in Heathrow yesterday, adding: "That was a long 10-minute emergency landing." Passengers safely disembarked and were placed onto a new plane, which took them to Verona.
In a message posted on Twitter to a passenger, British Airways said: "We apologise for the delay to your flight today.
"We had to return back to London Heathrow due to a technical issue."
"Safety is our number one priority and we would never continue a flight unless it was safe to do so.
"We are currently in the process of arranging a new aircraft so that we are able to get you to your destination."
BA said changed its departure time to 12:20 pm local time.
They continued: "Please make your way to Gate C55 where your flight will be boarding from."
BA says there was a technical issue forcing the flight to be diverted back to the UK.
A BA spokesman said: "The safety of our customers and crew is always our priority and the flight returned to Heathrow as a precaution due to a minor technical issue.
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"We've apologised to our customers and have organised a replacement aircraft so that we can get them on their way again as quickly as possible.”
A spokesperson from Heathrow Airport said the plane landed safely and all passengers were disembarked.
A passenger onboard the flight claimed there was a smell of burning and that a crew member fell ill.
FlightRadar data shows the flight taking off from Heathrow and travelling over South London shortly after 7am yesterday morning.
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This was 20 minutes later than the expected departure time of 6:45 am.
However, shortly after the flight made a U-turn at Bromley and circled back towards Heathrow passing over Woking and Reading.