British Airways flight to Chicago drops 28,000 feet, returns to London

LONDON — A British Airways passenger jet flying from London to Chicago descended 28,000 feet in just seven minutes after declaring an emergency due to an unspecified “technical issue,” the airline said Monday.

The Boeing 777 took off at 12:15 p.m. local time (7:15 a.m. ET) but started descending just 30 minutes later while flying over Ireland, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware.

The plane turned around and spent around four hours zigzagging over the Bristol Channel, a waterway to the west of England, before landing back at London Heathrow Airport at 5 p.m. local time (noon ET).

“The aircraft landed safely after our highly-trained pilots returned to Heathrow following a technical issue,” British Airways said in an emailed statement. “Customers disembarked the aircraft normally and our teams are working to get their travel plans back on track as quickly as possible.”

Heathrow did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Passengers will likely be put up in hotels by the airline until another flight can be arranged, as stipulated by the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority.

Britain’s National Air Traffic Service (NATS) came under scrutiny last month after two technical problems in the space of two weeks caused major delays…

Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/business