London-bound American 777 Diverts to New York

An American Airlines flight from Dallas-Fort Worth to London has made a diversion to New York earlier today.

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American AA78 Dallas-London Diversion to New York

American flight AA78, a Boeing 777-300 enroute from Dallas-Fort Worth to London Heathrow diverted whilst passing over Wisconsin outbound.

Air traffic control has not received a formal emergency declaration from the aircraft, and the reason for the unexpected diversion remains unknown.

American AA78 Dallas-London

Flight track of American Airlines AA78 Dallas-London showing diversion to New York

Flight AA78 initiated the diversion from the cruise at flight level FL330 (33,000 feet); electing to divert to New York JFK International Airport.

Flight data shows that American flight AA78 made a delayed departure out of Dallas-Forth Worth International Airport (DFW). The flight made an actual time of departure of 00:02 local time, 5 May 2024.

The flight then set course for the transatlantic service to London, climbing to flight level FL330.

Diversion to New York

Flight crew initiated the diversion at approximately 06:40 UTC over Wisconsin, approximately 2 hours after departure.

The aircraft subsequently tracked southwards before diverting to New York from Tennessee airspace.

Flight crew carried out a brief period of holding offshore before initiating the approach into New York JFK.

This holding was conducted at 10,000 feet and was possibly for the purposes of fuel dumping before the unscheduled landing.

777-300ER N786AT

The aircraft conducting the long haul AA78 service to London LHR was a Boeing 777-300ER registered N786AT. This is an 8-year old widebody aircraft belonging to the carrier American Airlines.

Mark Harkin, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

This aircraft was involved in a recent incident on 7 Mar 2024 at MIA. A ground collision occurred with Frontier Airlines Airbus A321neo, N630FR.

The left stabilizer of N736AT struck the tail fin of N630FR as it was being pushed back from stand, resulting in damage to the 777s stabiliser and a hole in the A321neos tail.