A British Airways flight traveling from London to Chicago made an unscheduled return to Heathrow Airport on Monday after experiencing a significant altitude drop. Flight data indicates the aircraft descended approximately 27,000 feet within a 10-minute window.
Tracking information provided by FlightAware shows the flight began its descent from 36,000 feet to 9,000 feet roughly 30 minutes after departing London. The maneuver appeared to be a controlled descent. Following the altitude change, the aircraft turned around over Ireland and spent several hours circling, a procedure typically used to burn off fuel before landing.
A spokesperson for British Airways confirmed the plane returned to the airport due to a technical issue and landed safely that evening. Video footage of the arrival was recorded by an automatic tracking camera and streamed live on the Flightradar24 YouTube channel.
Regarding the status of those on board, the airline representative stated, "Customers disembarked the aircraft normally and our teams are working to get their travel plans back on track as quickly as possible."
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