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British Airways issue statement after 'technical fault' causes chaos at Gatwick Airport

The airline has confirmed a plane had a 'technical fault' before landing and blocking the runway at the London airport as several flights were diverted

[A British Airways spokesperson later confirmed that the flight landed safely at Las Vegas]

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A British Airways flight faced a 'technical fault' before landing at Gatwick

British Airways have released a statement after nine flights headed to Gatwick Airport declared emergencies due one of the airline's planes blocking the runway.

Flight number BA2673 landed at the London airport and caused chaos as it reportedly blocked the only operating runway.

BA have confirmed that there was a 'technical fault' with the plane but have not elaborated.

[Nine flights have declared emergencies ]

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Nine flights declared emergencies (Image: Flight Radar )

A spokesperson for BA said: "Our flight landed safely and customers disembarked normally following reports of a technical fault with the aircraft."

The disruption led to several flights heading to Gatwick to face delays or be diverted in the early hours on Wednesday, July 15.

Nine flights squawked the emergency 7700 code, likely due to having low fuel. A further five flights were also made to land at other airports.

Of these 14 flights, five landed at Luton, four landed at Stansted and one landed at London Heathrow. Some flights were diverted outside of London, with three landing at Birmingham Airport, one landing at Bristol Airport.

The planes that let out the emergency signals were travelling from various destinations across Europe. This included flights departing from locations in Spain, such as Tenerife, Valencia, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura.

[Passport control at Gatwick Airport]

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Passport control at Gatwick Airport(Image: Getty)

Flights also impacted came from Rhodes and Athens in Greece, Bari and Rome in Italy, and Agadir in Morocco.

The runway was reopened just before around 1.30am, with easyJet and Tui flights being some of the first to land.

One British Airways passenger posted online: "Our British Airways flight landed in Stansted instead of Gatwick!

"Still on the plane to see whats happening next!! Hoping we can be flown back to Gatwick soon!"

A London Gatwick spokesperson said: Earlier this morning, the runway was closed for a short period due to a technical issue with an aircraft. As a result, a small number of flights were diverted, with the majority later returning to London Gatwick. As always, safety and security is our number one priority.

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