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British Airways Flight Declares Emergency and Lands Safely at Heathrow

A hydraulic fault that prevented normal landing-gear deployment forced a go-around, reducing Heathrow to one arrival runway for about ten minutes.

Overview

  • The Airbus A320 operating flight BA547 from Rome experienced a hydraulic-system anomaly on final approach on Wednesday, forcing the pilots to abort landing at about 450 feet.
  • The crew transmitted Squawk 7700, climbed to roughly 3,700 feet and held for about 20 minutes while they ran emergency checklists; Squawk 7700 signals a general emergency and gives the flight priority handling.
  • After troubleshooting, the aircraft made a second approach and touched down safely at 13:45 local time with airport fire and rescue crews standing by and no reported injuries to passengers or crew.
  • Air traffic control diverted arrivals from runway 09L to 09R for roughly ten minutes while the jet was inspected on the runway, then restored normal two-runway operations with only minimal lingering delays.
  • Heathrow and British Airways completed on-scene checks and a technical inspection took place on the tarmac, and a further technical assessment or formal investigation into the hydraulic fault is expected to follow.