London-Bound American B777-200 Diverts to New York After Nav System Failure

An American Airlines B777-200 bound for London from Charlotte diverted to New York JFK after reporting a navigation system failure on 13 December.

An American Airlines Boeing 777-200 operating a service from Charlotte, NC to London Heathrow diverted to New York after experiencing a navigation equipment failure on 13 December 2024.

American Airlines flight AA732, operated by a Boeing 777-200, had conducted a normal departure from Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT). The aircraft was performing a scheduled service to London Heathrow Airport (LHR).

American Airlines AA732 Charlotte-London

Flight track of American Airlines AA732 showing diversion to New York.

Whilst the aircraft was en route in cruising flight to the south of New York, flight crew advised of failure of one of the navigation systems. The unserviceability rendered the aircraft on suitable to make the transatlantic crossing. As a result, the decision was made to divert the aircraft to New York JFK International Airport.

The aircraft conducted a period of holding in the Atlantic City region for the purpose of fuel dumping to permit the landing at the diversion airport.

After burning off fuel, the aircraft landed without further incident on runway 04L New York JFK International Airport. The landing was made just under five hours after the initial decision to divert was announced.

The airline mustered a replacement aircraft to complete the onwards scheduled service to London Heathrow.

Flight Details

Flight data shows that American Airlines flight AA732 had made a departure out of Charlotte Douglas International Airport at 2108 local time on 13 December.

Following departure, the flight had set course normally, climbing to flight level FL350 for the transatlantic service to London.

The flight was in the cruise approximately 100 nautical miles to the south of New York on flight plan track when the technical issue was reported.

On negotiation with ATC a diversion to New York was then conducted.

An American Airlines B777-200 on the taxiway. — Anna Zvereva from Tallinn, Estonia, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The aircraft conducting the AA732 rotation to London was a Boeing 777-200, registered N750AN. This is a 23.8 year old wide-body aircraft belonging to the carrier American Airlines. It has been in operational service with the airline since its initial delivery from the factory in March 2001.