Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Evening Standard
Evening Standard
National
Jacob Phillips

British Airways flight from Bahamas to London diverted to Canada after medical emergency

A BA flight was forced to land twice on its way home to London - (PA Archive)

A British Airways flight from the Bahamas to London was forced to divert twice following a medical emergency.

The passenger plane was forced to stop off in Canada and Iceland, adding around 11 hours to the journey time on Tuesday.

Flight BA252 had originally set off from Grand Cayman Island at 6.21pm local time and completed its usual one-hour leg to the Bahamian capital of Nassau as planned.

The flight then began its eight-hour journey towards London, the Independent reports.

But as it travelled over the Atlantic Ocean it was diverted to Gander International Airport in Newfoundland, Canada, following a medical issue.

The flight landed in Gander five hours into its journey, but the delay meant that staff on the flight were nearing the legally permitted number of hours they are allowed to work.

To tackle the issue, British Airways arranged for the aircraft to land in Iceland so that a new crew could safely operate the plane on the rest of its trip.

FlightRadar24 data shows that the flight took three hours to travel from Gander to Reykjavik before a further two hour and 20 minute flight to London.

The flight finally landed in London at 10.38pm on Wednesday, 11 hours later than planned.

Earlier this week a flight from Heathrow was forced into an emergency landing and stranded at a remote airfield after a “severe medical’ situation involving a passenger.

The Virgin Atlantic plane left London at 11.40am on Wednesday and was due to land in Mumbai, India on Thursday at 1.40am local time.

But the Airbus A350 was diverted to an “abandoned” military base in Turkey at around 4.30pm local time and suffered a “technical issue” on touchdown.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.