Air France Flight Turns Back Mid-Atlantic Due to Technical Issue
On February 15th at 1:45 PM local time, Air France flight AF50 departed from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport bound for Washington Dulles International Airport. The Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, with registration F-GSQB, was approximately two hours into its transatlantic journey when the flight crew made the decision to turn back due to a technical issue.
The plane was cruising at 33,000 feet off the coast of Ireland when the emergency declaration was made. Upon re-entering French airspace, the crew officially declared an emergency and gave the aircraft priority routing and ground handling as it approached Paris.
Air France confirmed that the flight will be rescheduled for later in the day to allow for aircraft assistance, technical inspections, or a potential crew and aircraft swap. The specific nature of the technical issue has not yet been detailed by the carrier.