The bizarre nine-hour flight to nowhere

The bizarre nine-hour flight to nowhere.

We’ve had our share of flight delays, but we’ve never had a international flight turn around and go back to the departure airport while getting near it’s destination.

Passengers on a transoceanic journey experienced a bewildering turn of events when their plane abruptly changed course and headed back halfway through their trip across the Atlantic Ocean.

This unexpected turn occurred on Monday morning during British Airways Flight 195, which was enroute from London to Houston, typically a 10 ½ hour flight. The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner had already been airborne for approximately five hours and was nearing the Newfoundland coast when it was compelled to divert due to a minor technical issue. Consequently, the aircraft, capable of accommodating nearly 300 passengers, had to retrace its path across the ocean back to London.

After a nine-hour odyssey in the sky, covering 4,833 miles and crossing the Atlantic twice, the plane found itself no closer to its intended destination.

While the airline didn’t specify the issue, the jet reportedly had a problem with the engine that didn’t impact this particular flight but could have posed a risk to future trips, per One Mile at a Time.

“It landed safely, and customers disembarked as normal,” a British Airways representative told Fox News. “We’ve apologized to our customers for the disruption to their journey.”

The airline has since rebooked the beleaguered flyers onto the next available flights, plus provided lodging and instructions on how to claim other expenses.

It’s unclear why the aircraft had to fly all the way back to London to carry out repairs, although Heathrow Airport does have a BA maintenance facility.

See the flight track from Flight Aware.

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