A British Airways flight was forced to make an emergency return to Sydney Airport following a mayday call from its pilot.
Flight BA16 from Sydney to Singapore made a U-turn following “reports of a technical issue” on Monday (8 September).
According to FlightAware data, the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft was just over an hour into its journey when it turned back to its departure airport.
Audio of the pilot’s mayday call said: “Mayday Speedbird 16... just about to become established on (runway) 34 L, we will have to stop for at least a minute on the runway after landing.”
A “mayday” call is the distress signal for a life-threatening emergency in aviation.
The airline said that the pilots elected to return to Sydney “as a precaution”.
One passenger told Australian outlet 7News that the pilot said “we’re going to have to turn around because they smelt fuel in the cockpit”.
The flight had taken off from Sydney at 2.40pm local time, landing back in the Australian airport shortly before 4pm.
Emergency responders, including fire services, met the British Airways flight on the runway as part of “standard” response procedures.
A Sydney Airport spokesperson said that all passengers disembarked the aircraft safely, with no impact on general airport operations.
A spokesperson for British Airways said: “The aircraft returned to Sydney as a precaution after reports of a technical issue.
“The flight landed safely with crew and customers disembarking as they normally would, and our teams are working hard to get their journeys back on track as soon as possible.”
Passengers were rebooked onto alternative flights today from Sydney to continue their eight-and-a-half-hour journey to Singapore.
It’s not the first aircraft to make an unscheduled landing this summer.
In August, an American Airlines flight was diverted after a passenger’s device caught on fire.
American Airlines Flight 357, from Philadelphia to Phoenix, was forced to divert to Washington Dulles International Airport “following reports of smoke from a customer’s device,” the Federal Aviation Administration said.
The plane “landed safely” around noon at Dulles, the FAA added. Emergency personnel met the plane and helped the 160 passengers and six crew members off.
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