British Airways BA295 Returns to Heathrow After Emergency Descent

LONDON — British Airways (BA) flight BA295, a Boeing 777-200ER bound for Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD), returned to London Heathrow Airport (LHR) on October 5 after an emergency descent over Ireland.

Plane Finder’s October 5 record for BA295 lists the aircraft as G-VIIA. Its registration-specific aircraft data identifies a Boeing 777-236ER.

Sky News reported that flight-tracking data showed the aircraft descending to about 9,000 feet. It then spent about four hours over the Bristol Channel before landing at Heathrow just after 17:00 local time.

The Guardian reported passenger accounts and photographs showing deployed oxygen masks.

Airline Reports Normal Disembarkation

“The aircraft landed safely after our highly trained pilots returned to Heathrow following a technical issue,” British Airways said in a statement quoted by Sky News.

The airline said passengers disembarked normally and its teams were working to get their travel plans back on track as quickly as possible. The statement did not specify the nature of the technical issue.