A British Airways plane turned around while halfway across the Atlantic Ocean with the result hundreds of passengers endured a nine-hour flight to nowhere. The Boeing 777, which typically carries more than 300 people, left London on Tuesday morning for San Jos in Costa Rica but never completed the trip.
Data from Flightradar24 shows the flight departed about 30 minutes late and some five hours into the journey it then made a sharp U-turn over the ocean and headed back toward Europe.
The 5,431 mile journey from the UK to Costa Rica normally takes 10 hours, while this particular flight finally arrived back at Gatwick some nine hours after taking off.
One passenger on the flight posted some details of what happened on X saying: “Flew halfway to Costa Rica and @BritishAirways have decided to turn us around because apparently all of the water has leaked out of the aircraft.”
“On the way back to London with no word of compensation or another flight we can board when we land. Mess !!!”
She added: “The mood was so bad on the plane when it became apparent we spent over 8 hours flying from Gatwick to Gatwick,
British Airways told Business Insider: “”We’re sorry for the delay in our customers’ travel plans after their aircraft experienced a minor technical issue,.
“Our teams looked after our customers during the delay and worked hard to get them on their way as quickly as possible.”
It was not the first time in recent months that BA passengers have suffered a flight to nowhere. In June, a Boeing 787s turned around after flying 2,300 miles to Canada’s Newfoundland after a technical problem was detected.
It is relatively common for British Airways flights to return to a London airport hub when a technical issue arises rather than flying on to the planned destination. This is because it is easier and cheaper to rearrange replacement flights and repair the aircraft.
The Boeing 777 involved in Tuesday’s U-turn was flying again the following day, according to Flightradar24.