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Thu, 30 Jul 2026

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 British Airways flight called mayday on approach to Heathrow

The call was made on an Airbus A320 flying from Dusseldorf airport in Germany on 6 July following two stall warnings.
A British Airways flight was involved in a serious incident on July 6 when it issued a "mayday" distress call while approaching Heathrow Airport. The Airbus A320, which had taken off from Dusseldorf airport in Germany, received two stall warnings during its descent, prompting the pilots to switch to an alternate mode of operation known as "alternate law". Despite the warnings, the aircraft continued to descend and landed safely without incident. An investigation into the incident is currently underway by the UK's Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB), with assistance from British Airways. The investigation has revealed that a data system failure triggered the first stall warning, which was followed by another warning at 3,000 feet. The mayday call was made after the second warning, indicating imminent danger. Experts have said that issuing a mayday call in such circumstances is unusual, but not unprecedented, as it can be used to alert air traffic control to any number of urgent situations, including medical emergencies or technical issues on board.