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British Airways Jet Stalls Seconds From Disaster
30 Jul
Summary
- An air data system failure caused a stall on a British Airways flight.
- The captain had to physically intervene when the first officer struggled.
- The incident is classified as 'Loss of Control In-flight', 'Pilot Induced'.
A British Airways flight, BA919 from Düsseldorf, narrowly avoided disaster on July 6 when it stalled during its approach to London Heathrow. The Airbus A320, carrying approximately 180 passengers, was descending over east London when a failure in an air data system reportedly occurred at around 4,000ft.
This system failure is believed to have triggered a stall, a critical condition where an aircraft loses lift. Reports indicate the first officer attempted to manage the situation, but the captain ultimately had to intervene physically in the cockpit due to the severity and proximity to the ground.
The incident has been labelled one of the UK's most serious aviation near misses in recent years. Senior aviation figures described the event as a potential "hull loss." Investigators are examining the sequence of events, classifying it as 'Loss of Control In-flight' and 'Pilot Induced'.
