
A terrifying incident has been recorded during a British Airways flight from London to Chicago, after a Boeing 777 lost about 27,000 feet of altitude in just seven minutes and the crew declared a state of emergency due to a technical problem.
The plane took off from London at 12:15 p.m., according to flight tracking platform FlightAware. About 30 minutes later, while flying over Ireland, the plane began to lose altitude significantly.
At the moment the fall began, the Boeing 777 was at an altitude of about 36,000 feet, and within seven minutes it descended to about 9,000 feet.
After the incident, the plane changed course and returned to the UK. It flew over the Bristol Channel for about four hours before landing safely at London's Heathrow Airport at around 5pm local time.
British Airways confirmed that the return to Heathrow was due to a technical problem.
"The plane landed safely after our highly trained pilots returned to Heathrow due to a technical issue. Passengers disembarked as normal and our teams are working to get their travel plans back on track as soon as possible," the airline said.
Passengers are expected to be accommodated in hotels by the airline until another flight is organized.
The incident comes just days after Britain's National Air Traffic Service (NATS) was criticised for two technical problems in two weeks, which caused major delays at several airports in the country and led to the cancellation of hundreds of flights.