London, Oct. 5 -- A British Airways flight from London to Chicago made a U-turn and returned to Heathrow on Monday after declaring an emergency following a sudden descent of about 28,000 feet within minutes, according to flight-tracking data. Flight BA295, operated by a Boeing 777-200ER, took off from London Heathrow at 11.50 am local time and was scheduled to reach Chicago O'Hare International Airport after a flight of about eight hours and 40 minutes. About an hour into the journey, the aircraft had climbed to 37,000 feet when it appeared to encounter a technical problem and squawked the international aviation signal for a general emergency.
The aircraft then began a rapid descent, dropping to about 9,000 feet from 37,000 feet, a fall of roughly 28,000 feet, within minutes, flight-tracking data showed. It subsequently turned back towards the UK and landed safely at Heathrow.
British Airways said the aircraft returned to Heathrow because of a "technical issue" and that all passengers disembarked normally. "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," a BA spokesperson said.
"Customers disembarked the aircraft normally and our teams are working to get their travel plans back on track as quickly as possible," the spokesperson added.
The airline did not provide further details about the technical issue. The aircraft had been flying over Ireland when the emergency and rapid descent occurred.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.