A British Airways jet made an emergency landing at Heathrow after both pilots reported feeling “light-headed” and had to be fitted with oxygen masks before the plane touched down.
The Air Accident Investigation Branch has been investigating the incident which involved a flight a few days before Christmas from London to Glasgow.
A person claiming to have been on board the flight posted their account of the episode on a website used by pilots to discuss aviation issues, claiming that “a very abrupt and panicked message” requesting a senior flight attendant to the flightdeck had come over the public address system 20 minutes after takeoff from Heathrow.
The individual, who said the incident took place on 20 December, added: “At this point there were defined worried faces across all off [sic] attendants, next thing was an o2 cylinder and mask taken forward and we were heading back to LHR [London Heathrow] at great speed.
“No announcement for a long time then the expected technical problem line was posted to all. We landed no problem but were met by a full fire service turn out, including local authority fire service and engineers etc etc.”
A spokesman for BA told a news agency that both pilots on board the Airbus A321 had become “unwell” and followed procedures by donning oxygen masks and returning to Heathrow.
BA said in a statement: “The pilots reported feeling light-headed so, as a precaution and following normal procedure, put on their oxygen masks.
“Our pilots are highly trained to deal with such circumstances. The aircraft landed safely and customers continued their journey after a short delay.”
