A British Airways transatlantic flight enroute from London to Miami appears to be holding over the Atlantic to seaward off the south-west coast of Ireland.
British Airways BA207 London – Miami
British Airways flight BA207, an Airbus A380 on a transatlantic longhaul flight from London Heathrow (LHR) to Miami International Airport (MIA) is presently circling in a holding pattern having departed the UK mainland.
The aircraft is currently maintaining Flight Level 310 (31,000 feet) in a holding pattern to seaward over the Atlantic off the Irish south-west coast.
The aircraft is performing what typically appears to be a fuel dumping manoeuvre, though this is unconfirmed at the time of writing. Flight BA207 is squawking normally and has not formally declared any emergency.
The nature of the problem is not known. We will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates.
The aircraft, an Airbus A380-800 registered G-XLEA made a departure from London Heathrow (LHR), following a delay of approximately two hours and then established itself on its westerly track. It passed over the southern tip of Ireland enroute before holding to seaward.
The aircraft current remains in holding, in the Shannon Flight Information Region (FIR), maintaining FL310.
UPDATE: 1500 UK BST
Flight BA207 has now left the holding pattern and is making good a return to London, on descent through FL280. It now appears the holding manoeuvre was to facilitate the dumping of fuel to permit a return to LHR.
Update 1540 UK BST
Flight BA207 is now entering a holding pattern off the south-west coast of England. This is presumably to effect a final fuel dump before the return to London Heathrow.
Update 1630 UK BST
Flight BA207 is still engaged in the holding pattern off the English coast, dumping fuel.
Update 1638 UK BST
British Airways flight BA207 continues to remain in a hold. This has been a long day for passengers bound for Miami on this flight so far, having departed London Heathrow initially two hours late. The aircraft’s first hold was over the Atlantic Ocean, near Shannon Airport.
Update 1646 UK BST
It is understood that the holding time in total could be in excess of two hours, whilst the aircraft can get itself to a suitable landing weight.
As per @EISNspotter, to recap, the crew onboard relayed information to Shannon Control that a standby system failed, but they are fully functional.
The return to London Heathrow prevents the aircraft from being grounded if it landed in Miami.
Update 1700 BST
Whilst the aircraft is still in the hold, here is some information about the British Airways A380 originally bound for Miami.
As per data from Planespotters.net, G-XLEA, the A380 in question is 10.6 years old at the time of writing, having been delivered to the carrier back in July 2013.
The jet can seat a total of 469 passengers in a four-class configuration.
Update 1709
Courtesy of data from @RadarBoxCom, here is the routing that the British Airways Airbus A380, originally bound for Miami, has operated so far.
Update 1726 BST
British Airways flight BA207 has now come out of its second hold performed and looks now to be heading towards London Heathrow.
Update 1738 BST
British Airways flight BA207 is about to go overhead Cardiff, Wales, as it continues its path back to London Heathrow.
Update 1742 BST
The aircraft has now begun its descent into London Heathrow, following a few hours of holding around the Shannon Control area.
Update 1749 BST
Runway in use for London Heathrow is 27L for arrivals, so it is likely that BA207 is going to head for that runway. Again, no emergency declared still at this time.
Update 1752 BST
BA207 is about to approach the downwind leg for Runway 27L at London Heathrow, again just a normal squawk currently as they have the issue under control.
UPDATE 1759 BST
British Airways flight BA207 is now to the south of London Heathrow.
UPDATE 1803 BST
Looks like the British Airways Airbus A380, originally bound for Miami, is going to enter another hold just short of London Heathrow.
UPDATE 1806 BST
Looks to be just the deviation for sequencing into London Heathrow, the aircraft is continuing on.
UPDATE 1809 BST
British Airways flight BA207 is entering the base leg for the 27s at London Heathrow Airport.
UPDATE 1811 BST
BA207 is now on final.
UPDATE 1814 BST
British Airways flight BA207 has successfully landed back onto Runway 27L at London Heathrow Airport following its intense round of holds over the Atlantic. AviationSource will approach British Airways for a comment.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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