The skies over London, one of the busiest parts of Europe by air traffic, were the scene of an unusual situation that caused radar screens to literally turn red.
At one point, as many as nine planes declared an emergency situation, i.e. broadcast transponder code 7700 (so-called Squawk 7700).
The incident was caused by a domino effect in the airspace after the runway at Gatwick Airport (LGW) was temporarily blocked by flight BA2673 from Palma de Mallorca (PMI), which requested the assistance of the rescue services after landing.
A British Airways spokesperson said:
“Our plane landed safely and the passengers disembarked normally after a technical fault was reported on the plane,” the Mirror reports.
In comments on social networks, users stated that the problem was related to the landing gear, and that the plane was surrounded by fire engines and emergency vehicles after stopping.
The declaration of an emergency situation on nine flights, apparently, was due to fuel stocks that were used up during circling in the waiting areas (holding patterns), which is what specialized services like Flightradar24 and unofficial information agree on.
It is important to note that the code (squawk) 7700, although it is also used in case of serious incidents and threats to flight safety, refers to a general emergency situation (General Emergency).
This does not necessarily mean that the crew and passengers are in immediate danger, but also includes less risky circumstances that may affect the safety of the flight, such as lack of fuel due to prolonged waiting for landing, technical failures or other operational problems.
Flights that have declared an emergency:
BA2591 – Airbus A321 – British Airways from Verona
U28704 – Airbus A21N – easyJet from Agadir
U28330 – Airbus A320 – easyJet from Rome
U28012 – Airbus A320 – easyJet from Valencia
LS3104 – Airbus A21N – Jet2 from Lanzarote
U28042 – Airbus A21N – easyJet from Fuerteventura
BY4249 – Boeing 738 – TUI Airways from Rhodes
BA2703 – Airbus A321 – British Airways from Tenerife
BA2607 – Airbus A321 – British Airways from Bari
Due to the blockade of the runway at Gatwick Airport (LGW), in addition to the planes that declared a state of emergency, a total of 14 flights had to be diverted to alternative airports, it says Report.
