British Airways Flight to Chicago Aborts Takeoff After Technical Issue

A British Airways flight from London to Chicago experienced a sudden descent of 28,000 feet in just seven minutes due to a technical issue, the airline confirmed on Monday. The Boeing 777, which departed London Heathrow Airport at 12:15 p.m. local time, began descending shortly after takeoff while flying over Ireland, according to data from FlightAware.

The aircraft turned around and spent approximately four hours navigating over the Bristol Channel before safely landing back at Heathrow at 5 p.m. local time. In a statement, British Airways assured that the highly-trained pilots handled the situation professionally and that passengers disembarked normally. The airline is now working to rebook affected travelers.

Passengers are expected to be accommodated in hotels while arrangements are made for alternative flights, as required by the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority. This incident follows recent scrutiny of Britain’s National Air Traffic Service (NATS) after technical issues caused widespread flight cancellations at U.K. airports last month.

Heathrow, the world’s seventh busiest airport with 84.5 million passengers last year, has faced previous disruptions, including a major power outage in March 2023 caused by a fire at an electricity substation. The incident affected over 1,300 flights and 200,000 passengers, with the National Energy System Operator later attributing the fire to a preventable moisture fault.