British Airways flight returns to Gatwick following landing gear issue

A British Airways flight bound for Palma De Mallorca was forced to make a U-turn over central France and declare an airborne emergency following a technical malfunction in its landing gear system, according to airlive.net.

Flight Details and Emergency Declaration

Flight BA2672, operated by an Airbus A320 with registration G-EUYW, departed London Gatwick Airport (LGW) at 16:00 GMT scheduled for Spain’s Balearic Islands. The aircraft had reached its cruising altitude of 37,000 feet over French airspace when the flight crew received notification of a Landing Gear Control system failure, according to airlive.net.

Roughly an hour into the flight, an assessment of the mechanical issue indicated that the specific control failure could not be resolved by maintenance teams at Palma De Mallorca Airport (PMI). To ensure maintenance support and fleet operational continuity, the flight crew opted to abort the trip and return directly to their origin hub, airlive.net reported.

Upon turning around over central France, the pilots transmitted a squawk 7700 code on their transponder, officially declaring a general emergency to air traffic control to secure priority handling and direct routing on the return trip. The aircraft was expected to land back at London Gatwick at approximately 18:05 GMT, where emergency ground crews were positioned as a standard safety precaution. The aircraft eventually landed safely on runway 08R and was parked on a remote stand of the airport, according to airlive.net.

Previous Battery Fire Incident

In a separate incident involving British Airways, a passenger described a fire caused by a battery pack during a flight from Gatwick Airport to Italy on 15 October, according to the BBC.

Sisters Sandy Edwards and Jackie Riggs were on board the flight when the incident occurred. Edwards told BBC Radio Sussex that "all happened so fast" and stated, "The gentleman in front of us started screaming and I thought he was having a panic attack, but then he stood up and his tracksuit was on fire."

Edwards explained that the plane had not yet reached the Channel when the fire broke out. "As he stood up, you could see that his leg was burnt. He threw a gadget on to the floor that was on fire," she added.

According to the BBC, the cabin crew acted "very swiftly" to extinguish the flames and assist the passenger. Once the plane landed at Gatwick, the man was seen by paramedics. Passengers were disembarked and taken to a sealed off gate where they were given grey tracksuits to change into. A policeman told passengers to keep the clothes they wore on the flight sealed until they could be washed on a high heat, according to Edwards.

Aviation Safety and Lithium-Ion Risks

Regarding the battery fire, a British Airways spokesperson said, "We're extremely grateful for the actions of our crew on the flight to resolve the issue swiftly and safely." The airline also stated, "Safety is always our top priority and our flight landed back at Gatwick following this incident."

The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has launched a campaign to warn about the risks of traveling with devices using lithium-ion batteries, such as laptops, vapes, mobile phones, and power banks. The regulator states that power banks and vapes have become the biggest fire risk on planes.

Ross Lydall, head of communications at the CAA, told BBC Radio Sussex, "If they overheat or malfunction, then they can be a bit like a firecracker - it can be a very dramatic, very intense heat."

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Sources

• airlive.net: British Airways BA2672 is declaring an emergency after U-turn over France due to landing gear issue
• bbc.com: Battery fire on flight from Gatwick was 'so fast', passenger says

This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.