A British Airways flight bound for Trinidad made a return to London earlier this afternoon. It appears the cause of the unscheduled return was a fuel leak.
British Airways flight BA2239 London – Port of Spain
British Airways flight BA2239, a scheduled flight bound for Piarco International Airport (POS), Port of Spain, Trinidad from London Gatwick (LGW), executed a diversion and return to London whilst outbound over the North Atlantic.
Flight data shows the flight departed Gatwick at 10:21 BST this morning, Tuesday August 22, or the scheduled departure of 10:00 BST.
The flight proceeded outbound normally, climbing to cruising levels between FL340 and FL370. Established on the outbound North Atlantic crossing, the flight subsequently executed a turnaround for making a return to the United Kingdom.
Diversion to London Gatwick
The aircraft in question is a Boeing 777-200ER, registered G-VIIR, belonging to the national flag carrier British Airways.
The aircraft subsequently made a return to the London airport just after 14:30 BST this afternoon. The flight was met by emergency service vehicles on its arrival at Gatwick airport.
Information from the social media account @FlightEmergency account suggests that the cause of today’s precautionary return was a reported fuel leak. Flight data shows approximately six emergency assets deployed for the flights landing this afternoon.
Yesterday’s British Airways return to Gatwick
Today’s return of flight BA2339 follows on from an emergency incident involving another British Airways long haul flight which was forced to make a precautionary return to London Gatwick yesterday.
In yesterday’s incident, British Airways flight BA2037, a Boeing 777-200ER registered G-VIIP bound for Orlando, Florida, returned to Gatwick after suffering windscreen damage.
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