Dropping 28,000ft in minutes: Chaos in the sky as British Airways flight forced into sudden dive

A technical issue over Ireland forced a British Airways long-haul flight to abandon its transatlantic route and head back to London Heathrow on Monday.

Bound for Chicago O’Hare, Flight BA295 had initially climbed to its cruising altitude of 37,000 feet following an 11:50 am departure.

Shortly after, the crew responded to an onboard issue by executing a steep descent, losing nearly 28,000 feet of altitude to level off at approximately 9,000 feet.

At the same time, the crew set their transponder to emergency squawk code 7700, automatically alerting air traffic controllers to a critical situation on board, according to the Daily Mail.

Fuel burn over the Bristol Channel

Following communications with air traffic control, the crew opted against crossing the Atlantic and set a course back toward England.

To reduce the aircraft’s weight prior to landing, the flight entered a holding pattern over the Bristol Channel to burn off aviation fuel.

Flight-tracking data indicates that the Boeing 777-200ER landed safely back at Heathrow shortly after 5:00 pm. Passengers disembarked normally, and no injuries were reported.

In commercial aviation, a rapid descent to around 10,000 feet is standard practice when a cabin pressure issue is suspected, as the atmosphere at this altitude contains sufficient oxygen for breathing without supplemental masks.

However, officials have not confirmed whether depressurization was responsible for the maneuver, the Daily Mail reports.

Airline confirms technical issue

British Airways confirmed the incident, attributing the return to a technical defect on the roughly 30-year-old aircraft.

“The safety of our customers and crew is always our top priority, and the aircraft landed safely after our highly-trained pilots returned to Heathrow following a technical issue,” a British Airways spokesperson stated.

“Customers disembarked the aircraft normally and our teams are working to get their travel plans back on track as quickly as possible.”

The exact cause of the technical failure has not yet been disclosed, according to the Daily Mail.

This article is made and published by Christine Drews Sieger, who may have used AI in the preparation