Fault-hit British Airways flight flies to London after repairs

• Flight BA-260 took off for London from Islamabad International Airport at 11:34am on Thursday but had to land again.
• Aircraft returned to Islamabad after unusually loud Boeing 787 engine alarmed the pilots in midair.
• As soon as pilots noticed fault while flying over Swat Valley, they alerted the air traffic controllers.

ISLAMABAD: The London-bound British Airways (BA) flight that was forced back to Islamabad by an engine-rated malfunction a day earlier, flew to its destination on Friday, almost 24 hours later, Geo.tv reported.

The flight, BA-260, had taken off for the English capital from Islamabad International Airport at 11:34am on Thursday.

According to sources in the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the BA260 returned to Islamabad after an unusually loud Boeing 787 engine alarmed the pilots in midair.

As soon as the pilots noticed the fault while flying over Swat Valley, they alerted the air traffic controllers in Islamabad and requested permission to return to the airport of departure.

Pakistani aviation authorities wasted no time in bringing the plane safely back to the Islamabad airport.

Ground staff had also completed all their preparations for an emergency landing.

All the passengers and the crew onboard Boeing 787 landed safely.

To make the emergency landing as safe as possible, the pilots also had to dump the fuel to lower the Boeing 787’s weight before touching down at the Islamabad airport at 01:04pm on Thursday.

The CAA sources said the technical fault was fixed by the Pakistani engineers and the flight departed at 12:00pm on Friday.