BA passengers on nine-hour 'flight to nowhere' over 'technical issue'

Passengers on board a British Airways flight had to endure nine-hours to 'nowhere' after their plane suffered technical difficulties over Canada and turned back to London . The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner was headed to George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas on Monday but began to experience problems when it reached North America.

This meant the flight left London Heathrow at 9.27am on Monday, and landed again at the same airport at 6.54am the following day – travelling a total of 7779km and spending nine hours and 27 minutes in the air. It is understood that a regular flight to Houston from London is only about 30 or 40 minutes longer than that.

British Airways later said the turnaround was a precaution due to a 'minor technical issue' and it made the decision to return to London as this where is had the facilities and technicians to examine the aircraft. A spokesman from British Airways said: 'The flight returned to London Heathrow as a precaution due to a minor technical issue. It landed safely and customers disembarked as normal.

'We've apologised to our customers for the disruption to their journey.' It has been reported that all passengers were rebooked onto new flights heading for Houston.

The exact cause of the issue was not specified by British Airways, but several outlets reported that it was connected to the aircraft's engines. This comes after a British Airways plane was forced to make an emergency landing jut weeks ago in Holland after smoke reportedly started filling the cockpit mid-air.

The flight was en route from London to Norwegian city Oslo when the Captain alerted air traffic controllers and told them the plane would need to touch down immediately.

Several fire engines and emergency vehicles were sent to the runway at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport where the Airbus A320 with up to 190 people onboard touched down.

Terrified passengers were reportedly told the plane had to land due to 'safety fears' before they were led out the rear door, which was the furthest away from the allegedly smoking cockpit.

Flight BA764 left Heathrow shortly after 5pm yesterday, but the Captain had to issue the distress call just 90 minutes into the flight. British Airways said in a statement about that incident: 'This aircraft was diverted into Amsterdam Schiphol Airport as a precaution following a minor technical issue onboard. 'We've apologised to our customers for the disruption to their travel plans.'

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