British Airways flight in 'holding pattern' for 20 minutes after technical fault

A British Airways flight was forced to make an emergency landing at London Heathrow Airport after flight BA547 from Rome experienced a hydraulic system fault affecting the landing gear

Joe Smith News Reporter and Kelly Williams Content Editor

22:45, 22 Jul 2026Updated 07:36, 23 Jul 2026

[An Airbus A320-232 (G-EUYI) from British Airways takes off on March 21, 2026, in Brussels-Zaventem Airport, Belgium]

British Airways shared advice for passengers(Image: Getty)

A British Airways flight was forced to make an emergency landing after a technical fault with the aircraft today. The British Airways Airbus A320 was approaching London Heathrow Airport just after 1pm this afternoon when the crew spotted a mechanical issue.

The plane, flight BA547, had departed from Rome Fiumicino Airport at 11:40 local time and operated normally during its journey before it started its descent over the English Channel without any problems.

It wasn't until the aircraft was on its final approach to touch down at Heathrow that flight crew discovered an issue with the hydraulic system that prevented the aircraft's landing gear from deploying correctly.

[British Airways Airbus A319-100 with registration G-EUPZ on short final for runway 18R (Polderbaan) of Amsterdam Airport Schiphol]

A Squalk code was transmitted(Image: Getty)

The enormous jet was merely 450 feet (137 metres) above the ground when the crew were compelled to abandon the landing and execute a "go-around" manoeuvre to allow time to safely investigate the technical problem, reports the Mirror.

The aircraft climbed back to 3,700 feet and entered a holding pattern for roughly 20 minutes while the crew desperately worked through a series of emergency checklists to attempt to identify the fault.

As the plane circled and the flight crew worked through the checklists the pilots transmitted a Squawk 7700 code (the international transponder code signalling a general emergency) to request priority handling from air traffic control.

After completing the required procedures, the crew lined up for a second approach and touched down safely at 1:45pm. Airport fire and rescue teams rushed onto the tarmac to meet the approaching aircraft, following standard protocol when a plane experiences a landing gear-related incident.

Air traffic controllers at Heathrow, the globe's seventh busiest airport, were compelled to redirect aircraft away from the northern runway, designated as 09L, throughout the emergency.

All arriving flights were instantly switched to Heathrow's southern runway, 09R, for approximately 10 minutes while the aircraft was safely examined and removed from the operational runway.

No injuries were reported amongst the passengers or crew aboard. Flight operations at Heathrow swiftly resumed as normal with minimal ongoing delays.

BA said: "Our flight landed safely and customers disembarked normally."

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