BA Abuja flight loses engine, returns to base

An Abuja-bound, British Airways flight BA083, yesterday, made an air return to London Heathrow Airport, after its aircraft lost an engine en route.

The aircraft took off from Heathrow Airport late Tuesday, and was airborne when pilot announced that the aircraft would be returning to its port of departure.

The airline in a statement said: “For your information, the aircraft experienced a minor technical issue, and our pilots elected to return to Heathrow. In terms of the emergency services meeting the aircraft, this is standard practice.

“Our aircraft returned to Heathrow and was met by the emergency services as a precaution after experiencing a minor technical issue. Our teams looked after our customers last night, providing them with overnight accommodation. We’re sorry to our customers for the delay to their travel plans,” the statement read in part.

It was not clear why the aircraft had to return to base, although the action suggested that the operating aircraft might be closer to UK than it was to its destination.

According to international safety statistics, there are about 25 incidents a year involving a jet engine failing either in flight or on the ground. This translates into less than one for every million flights worldwide.The overwhelming majority of such occurrences end without incident because crews are trained on simulators to handle the loss of an engine.