British Airways flight BA919 was due to land at Heathrow Airport but before it could safely land it encountered an issue mid-air which has been reported as “the most serious ‘near miss’ in the UK in years”
The pilot reportedly faced a terrifying moment while the plane was above Canary Wharf.(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
A British Airways plane was “seconds from disaster” after a “serious incident” above London, it has been reported.
On Monday July 6, Flight BA919 from Dusseldorf was due to land at Heathrow Airport but before it could safely land it encountered an issue mid-air. Just before it was due to land the pilot reportedly faced a terrifying moment while the plane was above Canary Wharf.
Sources said the first officer’s error required a physical intervention by the captain as the Airbus A320 was on on route to land at Heathrow Airport.
It is said the jet suffered a stall and the captain had to step in to overide the first officer’s initial input to try and fix the problem.
Experts told The Sun the situation could have resulted in ‘hull loss’, where an aircraft is destroyed or seriously damaged. They added it was “The most serious ‘near miss’ in the UK in years”.
Following the incident the captain is now understood to be on “stress leave”.
The Air Accidents Investigation (AAIB) Branch are investigating the ‘serious incident’. AAIB is an independent agency and is responsible for the investigation of civil aircraft accidents and serious incidents in the UK and its Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
A spokesperson for British Airways said: “We’re assisting the AAIB with its investigation and are legally unable to comment further at this stage.”