An American Airlines 777 is the latest flight to fly over central London in an emergency.
The American 777 left London Heathrow with about 180 people onboard and was flying near to Keflavik in Iceland when it decided to return to Heathrow after several flight attendants and crew members fell ill mid-flight.
The Boeing 777, which took off at 1201 landed safely in London about five hours later, where it was met by ambulances.
Paramedics examined, then discharged, six patients who complained of feeling unwell.
It was unclear what caused the patients to feel sick, but crews investigating the plane found no evidence of hazardous substances.
A statement from American Airlines said:
“American Airlines Flight AA 109, a Boeing 777-300, operating to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) from London Heathrow, is returning to Heathrow due to a medical emergency.”
Emergency over Iceland?
The emergency happened over Keflavik in Iceland.
So why fly almost three hours back to Heathrow?
Questions being asked include why not land in Keflavik, Aberdeen, Belfast, Glasgow….why fly more than 3 hours and then land over Europe’s most congested city?
Why do emergency flights land over West London?
American Airlines and others have landed over central London recently in an emergency.
On 29 November 2015 an American Airlines flight from Milan to New York an emergency landing at Heathrow after the windscreen shattered.
The plane was near Paris when the problem occurred but it landed over central London.
N.B. Image credit: aa.com
