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The British Airways Boeing 777 was en route to Costa Rica from London on Tuesday but returned back after travelling over 4,000 miles due to a technical issue.
A similar incident took place with another British Airways flight en route to Canada in June. (Reuters)
A British Airways plane carrying hundreds of passengers returned back to London after a nine-hour ‘flight to nowhere’ as it faced a technical issue halfway across the Atlantic. The incident left passengers furious as they were unable to complete their journey after travelling for over 4,000 miles.
The Boeing 777 plane under British Airways was en route from London to San Jose in Costa Rica on Tuesday morning but failed to complete its journey as it experienced technical issues and returned back mid-air, according to The Mirror. It left around 30 minutes behind schedule and, after about five hours into the flight, it made an abrupt U-turn over the Atlantic Ocean, returning to Europe, as per Flightradar24.
The 5,431-mile trip that usually takes 10 hours was cut short, though not by much, as the plane landed back at Gatwick Airport approximately nine hours after departure. “We’re sorry for the delay in our customers’ travel plans after their aircraft experienced a minor technical issue,” a British Airways spokesperson told Business Insider.
A passenger took to X to share his displeasure after the incident. “Flew halfway to Costa Rica and @British_Airways have decided to turn us around because apparently all of the water has leaked out of the aircraft,” she said.
On the way back to London with no word of compensation or another flight we can board when we land. MESS !!!!!’— lucy 🌹 (@superultrangel) October 29, 2024
“On the way back to London with no word of compensation or another flight we can board when we land. MESS !!!!!” the passenger added. Another individual said, “The mood was so bad on the plane when it became apparent we spent over 8 hours flying from Gatwick to Gatwick.”
This is not the first instance in recent months where British Airways passengers experienced a ‘flight to nowhere’. In June, a Boeing 787 was forced to turn around after flying 2,300 miles towards Canada due to a technical issue. It’s not unusual for British Airways flights to return to a London airport hub when a technical problem is detected, rather than continuing to the intended destination.
- Location :
London, United Kingdom (UK)
