Nine flights declare emergencies after Gatwick runway closure sparks overnight chaos
Multiple flights declared an emergency simultaneously in the early hours of this morning over London Gatwick.
According to Flightradar24, a total of nine flights squawked the 7700 emergency code, likely because they were short on fuel as a result of being put into holding patterns.
The aircraft were unable to land after the runway was closed when a BA flight suffered a technical issue at around 12.50am.
The aircraft, flight BA2673 from Palma Mallorca, was surrounded by fire engines and the runway was blocked for nearly an hour.
Gatwick Airport confirmed the closure was caused by a technical issue with an aircraft.
As a result, hundreds of passengers with British Airways, TUI, easyJet and Jet2 had to be diverted to Heathrow, Stansted, Luton and Birmingham.
An issue at Gatwick as nine (9) flights originally bound for the London airport are currently squawking 7700 (likely due to low fuel). We are working to learn more. https://t.co/HsHBhiVnxD pic.twitter.com/cHSUBcbZlv
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) July 14, 2026
Our @British_Airways flight landed in #Stansted instead of #Gatwick ! Still on the plane to see what’s happening next !! Hoping we can be flown back to Gatwick soon ! It’s been much longer flight from #Tenerife than usual.
— ravinder singh (@RaviSinghKA) July 15, 2026
A Gatwick spokesperson told Metro: ‘As a result, a small number of flights were diverted, with the majority later returning to London Gatwick. As always, safety and security is our number one priority.’
In total, 14 flights were diverted before Gatwick reopened at around 1.30am.
Passenger Ravinder Singh was travelling from Tenerife but had to be diverted to Stansted.
He said at 1.11am on X: ‘Still on the plane to see what’s happening next!! Hoping we can be flown back to Gatwick soon!
‘It’s been much longer flight from Tenerife than usual.’
Ciara wrote on Twitter: ‘Never seen anything like this before. My phone blew up with 7700 notifications, I thought the world was ending.’
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