Flight to London from city bounces, aborts landing
London, Feb. 9: A British Airways flight from Hyderabad was forced to abort its first landing attempt at London’s Heathrow Airport, seconds after touching down on the runway amid gusty winds. The passenger jet landed safely at Heathrow Airport only 18 minutes later, despite the severe weather conditions. Flight BA276, which took off from the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, was due to land after 12.30 pm on Friday but after initially touching down the runway following a wobbly descent, the pilots aborted the landing. The flight’s troubles were linked with the stormy conditions as the UK has been lashed by harsh winds of around 112 km per hour due to this week’s storm Erik.
“Our highly skilled pilots regularly train to conduct the standard manoeuvre known as a ‘go around’. The aircraft circled the airport and landed safely,” a BA spokesperson said.
Videos on social media show the aircraft visibly shaking and bouncing as it attempts to touch down, with the wheels even hitting the tarmac before the pilot takes off once more. In airline parlance, such a manoeuvre is referred to as TOGA, or Take Off/Go Around, used whenever an approach to the runway becomes unstable. The pilots were widely lauded on Twitter to pulling off a safe landing after the initial hiccup. The UK’s Met Office had issued severe weather warnings for Friday as storm Erik caused torrential rain and gusty winds around the country.