British Airways flight to Faro turns back to Gatwick over cracked window
Flight BA2660 from London Gatwick to Faro landed safely back at Gatwick on Tuesday, 13 October, after the crew found a cracked passenger window about 45 minutes into the flight.
Diversion over France
British Airways flight BA2660 left London Gatwick at 09:06 on Tuesday, 13 October, according to FlightRadar, bound for Faro in the Algarve with an Airbus A321 scheduled to land there at 11:50. About 45 minutes after departure, while flying over north-western France, the aircraft changed course and headed back to Gatwick. AirNav Radar posted on X that a passenger window was cracked and that the flight deck was running checks before deciding where to divert. Il Messaggero, citing Airlive, placed the damage near row 3R on the right side of the cabin. The aircraft squawked emergency code 7700, which the BBC reports is used for mechanical or technical problems on board.
- Flight BA2660 departs London Gatwick for Faro, according to FlightRadar
- Flight changes course over north-western France and heads back to Gatwick
- Aircraft lands safely at Gatwick after squawking emergency code 7700
Landing at Gatwick
The Airbus landed safely at Gatwick, where emergency services had been alerted as a precaution, Il Giornale reported. British Airways described the cause as a minor technical issue and said passengers were due to resume their journey. A British Airways spokesperson apologised for the disruption in these words:
We have apologised to customers for the delay to their journey, and our teams are working hard to get their travel plans back on track.
Il Giornale reported that the airline arranged a replacement aircraft so passengers could continue to Faro, and that all passengers arrived at their destination unharmed.
Investigation of the window
The damaged aircraft will remain on the ground while engineers inspect the window and establish how the fracture occurred, Il Messaggero reported. Il Giornale said the cabin windows have a multilayer structure, with an outer load-bearing pane and an inner scratch-resistant layer, so a crack does not immediately affect cabin pressure. Mediafax noted that the cause of the emergency return had not been confirmed at the time of reporting. No cause had been announced by British Airways in the articles reviewed.
Earlier window incidents
The BBC reported that in August a passenger on a Ryanair flight was seriously injured when a window was damaged, and Ryanair later said a foreign object may have caused the damage. Mediafax linked the BA diversion to that earlier Ryanair case, describing it as a window breaking in flight a few months before. The same outlet also referred to a July case in which engine debris struck a cabin window, without naming the airline.
