A British Airways flight bound for Chicago plunged 28,000 feet in just seven minutes before the crew declared an emergency.
Passengers aboard Flight BA295 were subsequently kept on the aircraft for about four hours as it circled over the UK before returning to London Heathrow, its original departure point.
The Boeing 777 left Heathrow at 12:15 p.m. but turned back over Ireland after an unspecified “technical issue” triggered the rapid descent, according to flight-tracking data from FlightAware.
Oxygen masks were deployed for passengers and crew following the aircraft’s sudden, steep drop, The Mirror reported.
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After the pilots declared an emergency, the plane spent several hours flying near the Welsh coastline to burn off enough fuel for a safe landing, flight-tracking information showed.
“The aircraft landed safely after our highly-trained pilots returned to Heathrow following a technical issue,” British Airways reportedly said in a statement.
“Customers disembarked the aircraft normally and our teams are working to get their travel plans back on track as quickly as possible.”
British Airways did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Post.
The incident occurred less than a month after thousands of flights were canceled amid technical problems affecting the United Kingdom’s air traffic control system.
