A British Airways plane heading to Chennai had to make an in-flight U-turn on Sunday after it reportedly experienced a technical problem. The plane, which was a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, returned safely to London’s Heathrow Airport, and all passengers and crew got off without any problems, the airline confirmed in a short statement.
Although British Airways did not reveal the precise nature of the technical issue nor the number of passengers on board, it characterized the return as a “standard precaution.” The airline also did not specify how long the plane had been in the air before deciding to return.
According to flight tracking website Flightradar24.com, British Airways flight BA35 was originally scheduled to depart Heathrow at 12:40 pm but eventually took off at 1:16 pm after a delay of over 35 minutes. The aircraft remained airborne for nearly two hours and was seen flying in multiple holding patterns before safely landing back at Heathrow.
Our crew are doing their best to return their travels to some kind of normality as quickly as possible,” the airline posted in an updated statement, without commenting on rebooking or alternative arrangements.
The accident has raised new safety issues, following just days after an Air India Dreamliner crash in Ahmedabad killed all 241 passengers and crew on board.”.
In another but identical incident on Sunday, Lufthansa flight LH752, crewed by a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, made an unexpected diversion to Frankfurt soon after takeoff. The flight scheduled to Hyderabad took off from Frankfurt at 2:29 pm, nine minutes behind its planned departure of 1:05 pm. The cause of the air turnback is unknown for now.
The two incidents have contributed to increasing criticism of the safety and reliability of the fleet of Boeing Dreamliners.