British Airways flight called mayday on approach to Heathrow
The call was made on an Airbus A320 flying from Dusseldorf airport in Germany on 6 July following two stall warnings.
A British Airways flight en route to Heathrow Airport from Dusseldorf, Germany, on July 6, issued a "mayday" distress signal after experiencing two stall warnings, according to France's accident investigation authority. The Airbus A320, which had 180 people on board, landed safely without further incident.
The UK's Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) has launched an investigation into the "serious incident." British Airways confirmed it is cooperating with the AAIB and is unable to provide further comment at this time.
According to the French Air Safety Investigation Authority (BEA), a data system failure triggered the initial stall warning as the plane approached Heathrow. The crew then switched to "alternate law" flight mode, which disables some automated flight protection systems. A second stall warning occurred at 3,000 feet, likely just miles from the airport, prompting the crew to upgrade their urgency call to a "mayday," signifying imminent danger.
While the BEA website attributed its statement to the AAIB, the AAIB would not confirm this. The AAIB did issue its own statement: "The AAIB is investigating a serious incident involving a commercial aircraft which occurred on 6 July on approach to Heathrow airport." The investigation will be a "correspondence investigation," meaning no field team will be dispatched.
Aviation safety investigator David Gleave noted that while urgency messages are "not unusual" and can be made for various reasons, such as a sick passenger, it is "very unusual for it to be a significant failure on board the aeroplane."