A British Airways flight took off from an airport and flew for nine hours only to return passengers to the same airport.
Long-haul flights are bad enough as it is, but now imagine climbing aboard a small cabin, taking off into the air, and managing to entertain yourself for a good nine hours, motivated by the thought of ending up somewhere much sunnier and hotter than London currently is, only to land, step off the plane and realize you’re back to square one.
On Monday (June 10), British Airways Flight 195 – a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner – took off from London’s Heathrow Airport at around 9.57am – later than the original departure time of 9.25am – destined to reach its final destination of George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston – originally by 1:45 p.m., as reported by One Mile At A Time.
However, the plane’s planned journey, lasting 10 hours and 45 minutes, took around nine hours and saw passengers end up in exactly the same place they left from, at London’s Heathrow Airport.
But why?
Well, according to the travel agency, the plane managed to make half of its original journey – reaching near the coast of Newfoundland and having flown for about five hours – before being forced to change course.
It was then that a problem with one of the plane’s engines was identified, with a British Airways spokesperson telling an insider that “a minor technical issue” had been diagnosed.
Ultimately it was decided that instead of continuing, the plane would turn back, cross the Atlantic Ocean again and return to Heathrow Airport in London.
The flight is said to have landed in London at around 6.53pm, having completed a massive 4,600-mile round trip.
A British Airways spokesperson told Fox News: “[The plane] they landed safely and customers disembarked normally.”
“We apologize to our customers for the disruption to their travel.”
The airline also rebooked passengers on the next available flights from London to Houston and provided details on how to request a refund, as well as putting them up in hotels for the night too.
As for why the flight didn’t just continue on to Houston but turned around and traveled back over the Atlantic Ocean to London, British Airways reportedly had a maintenance facility at London Heathrow and a British Airways pilot weighed in on the issue on the Flyer Talk forum.
They explained that it appears there was “an engine surge on engine two” of the plane which typically “automatically resets.”
However, they noted that while this meant it was not an “immediate concern” for the current flight, it was “of concern for subsequent” flights booked on that specific aircraft subsequently.
The pilot believes that due to a contract between Rolls Royce and British Airways, there may have been “direct input from the RR team in Derby” – the aircraft’s engine would have been produced by Rolls Royce.
UNILAD has contacted British Airways and Rolls Royce for comment.
https://www.unilad.com/news/travel/plane-nine-hours-arrive-same-airport-left-from-789502-20240615
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