Why British Airways Ran 3 Flights To Nowhere In A Day Making U-Turns And Causing 20 Hr-Delay?

Delay and flight rescheduling has almost become as routine as flights being on time. However, to have three flights returning to the point of beginning after they take off on time, all on the same day is unusual. Such an incident recently happened with British Airways. On the 2nd of September, Saturday, three flights had to return to the Heathrow airport in London after they took off due to a series of technical problems.

British Airways Flew Three Flights To Nowhere

The return of the flights caused a delay of close to 21 hours. Of the three flights to which this happened, one was headed to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. The other was headed to Corsica, an island in France. The third flight that returned was headed to Boston.

However, none of these three flights made it to their destinations on time. The flight to Riyadh was in the air for around two hours when it made a U-turn. As per the Flightradar information cited by Business Insider. This means that the four-hour flight ended up being to nowhere.

The flight to Corsica, the second flight that ran into issues, returned after being in the air for around an hour on the journey before making a return. The Boston flight was only in the air for around 16 minutes, before it, too, returned to Heathrow.

Also Read: Plus-Size Passenger Got Stuck In His Seat For 3 Hrs On A British Airways Flight; Had To Be Hoisted

Delay Of Around 21 Hours And Why They Were Delayed

The replacement flight for Riyadh was on the following day and the passengers were delayed for around 21 hours. The replacement flight to Corsica, too, was on the following day and the passengers were delayed for 20 hours. The airline has apologised for the inconvenience it caused.

According to the Business Insider article, the reason that the Boeing 777, the aircraft that was headed to Riyadh, returned was because it had glitches in its traffic collision system. It is estimated by The Independent that British Airways might have to fork over around $800,000 as compensation to around 700 passengers who were affected by the delayed flights.

Also Read: Good News! British Airways To Start A Direct Flight Between London & Kochi Within Three Months

Has anything like this ever happened to you? Let us know in the comments below!

Cover Image Credits: Wikimedia Commons