British Airways flight declares emergency before making an emergency landing back at Heathrow
A British Airways holiday flight has made an emergency landing at Heathrow after an incident.
The flight BA866 was on its way from London to Hungarian capital Budapest when it suddenly turned around.
It had left Heathrow shortly after 7am and was cruising at about 18,684ft above Kent when something happened.
Just before reaching the English Channel, the Airbus A319 jet sent an emergency alert to air traffic control known as squawk code 7700.
The route of the BA flight before the emergency landing back at Heathrow Airport (Picture: Flightradar24)
Flight radar data shows how the passenger plane then began heading back towards Heathrow before landing at about 8am shortly after the emergency message.
It is not yet known what happened on board the Airbus A319 aircraft, but the pilot used the 7700 squawk code which means a general emergency.
It gives the pilot the responsibility to do anything they need to to ensure safety onboard, regardless of the rules, Flightradar24 reports.
The Airbus aircraft is said to have suffered a water leak in the forward galley after take off, according to AirLive.
We approached British Airways for a comment.
The BA travel status shows the plane was scheduled to leave at 7.25am, but it has now been delayed to depart at 10.50am.
It comes after several British Airways flights were listed as delayed at Heathrow today.
What is a squawk code?
Planes and air traffic control use different codes to communicate with each other.
They might sound like mysterious jargon to anyone who is not a pilot, but every code sends an important message as air traffic control juggles hundreds of planes.
Squawk codes range from identifying each plane to specific codes about emergencies.
The squawk 7700 is used for general emergency, Flightradar24 explained.
The pilot might speak with the air traffic control tower first before sending the 7700 so that they can get priority over other planes.
Squawking 7700 also alerts all nearby ATC towers about the situation with the flight, Flightradar24 said.
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