BA flight number 866 – which was operated on Wednesday by an Airbus A319 with the registration number G-EUPG – took off from London’s Heathrow airport at 8:00 local time, about 35 minutes late, but in the area of Dover on the coast of the Kent county in southeast England. after about a quarter of an hour of flight and a few laps, it headed back to Heathrow.
According to FlightRadar24 online flight tracking service, the plane turned back at an altitude of 26,000 feet (just over 8,000 meters) and landed safely on the northern runway 09L of Heathrow Airport on the western border of London about 50 minutes after takeoff.
The airport’s emergency services – ambulances and firefighters – were on standby until the plane landed, as is the usual procedure in such cases, but there was no need to mobilize them.
In a statement on Wednesday afternoon, the spokesman for British Airways said – without details – that the plane turned back “due to a suspected minor technical problem” as a precaution.
According to AirLive, an online news portal specializing in aviation news, the crew noticed a water leak in the front food and beverage preparation section of the plane after takeoff.
BA flight 866 – which would have been the first of the four British Airways flights to Budapest on Wednesday – departed for Budapest again at a quarter past 1 in the afternoon local time with another Airbus A319 aircraft with the registration number G-EUPW.
In a statement, British Airways apologized to passengers for the disruption.
(Opening image: illustration only. Photo: Facebook / British Airways)
