British Airways A350 London-Vancouver U-Turns over Scotland

At the moment, a British Airways A350 to Vancouver from London Heathrow has u-turned over Scotland and is looking for a diversion field.

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BA85 is being operated by G-XWBL, one of the airline’s Airbus A350-1000 aircraft.

Updates: British Airways A350 London-Vancouver U-Turns over Scotland…

This is a developing story. Updates below.

UPDATE #1 @ 1912 UK time – British Airways flight BA85 from London Heathrow to Vancouver is currently tracking south at FL130, with no indication into what the problem is onboard.

UPDATE #2 @ 1913 UK time – BA85 is being operated by G-XWBL, one of the airline’s Airbus A350-1000 aircraft, as per data from Planespotters.

G-XWBL is a 1.9 year old airframe that was delivered to the UK carrier back in April 2022. Of the A350-1000 variant, the UK carrier has 17 in the fleet, of which all are in active service, offering a average fleet age of 2.6 years.

UPDATE #3 @ 1919 UK time – British Airways flight BA85 from London Heathrow to Vancouver has passed Carlisle and is continuing to track southbound, potentially back to Heathrow at the moment.

UPDATE #4 @ 1920 UK time – @FlightEmergency on X confirms that the crew have received a “cargo door open” indication.

UPDATE #5 @ 1922 UK time – BA85 now tracking northbound at FL130 currently. Unclear whether this is a hold or going on to Heathrow.

UPDATE #6 @ 1925 UK time – Looks like BA85 will be commencing some holds to burn fuel to the West of Carlisle currently. London Heathrow confirmed as diversion field.

UPDATE #7 @ 1937 UK time – BA85 continues to hold to the west of Carlisle as fuel is burned to a level where the crew can get to an acceptable landing weight. This may take quite a few rotations given the aircraft was expected to go to Vancouver.

UPDATE #8 @ 1948 UK time – BA85 has appeared to have come out of the hold and is now continuing a track southbound back to London Heathrow.

UPDATE #9 @ 1959 UK time – British Airways flight BA85, originally bound for Vancouver, is now tracking near Manchester as the crew continue the diversion back to London Heathrow.

UPDATE #10 @ 2017 UK time – BA85 is now commencing it’s approach into Heathrow, descending from it’s adjusted cruise altitude of FL130 following the cargo door open indicator displaying in the cockpit.

UPDATE #11 @ 2029 UK time – BA85 is now on final into LHR following it’s u-turn over Scotland earlier tonight.

UPDATE #12 @ 2037 UK time – TOUCHDOWN! British Airways flight BA85, originally bound for Vancouver, has safely landed back into London Heathrow following a cargo door open indication in the cockpit.

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