A British Airways flight bound for Palma de Mallorca was forced to turn back to London Gatwick on Sunday after the crew received a warning about the aircraft’s landing gear control system.
Flight BA2672, an Airbus A320 registered G-EUYW, had departed Gatwick at around 4pm on Sunday and was cruising at 37,000 feet over France when the fault indication appeared. After assessing the situation, the crew decided the issue could not be addressed by maintenance teams in Palma and chose to return to Gatwick to ensure proper support.
While turning back over central France, the pilots transmitted a squawk 7700 code to air traffic control, declaring a general emergency and securing priority routing back to London. The aircraft landed safely on runway 08R at around 6pm and was directed to a remote stand, with emergency ground crews positioned as a standard safety precaution.
British Airways said: “The aircraft safely returned to London Gatwick following a technical issue. We have apologised to customers for the delay to their journey and our teams provided overnight accommodation. The flight will depart later today.”
A landing gear control system warning does not necessarily mean that the landing gear itself has failed. It indicates a problem with the systems that manage or monitor the gear, and pilots treat it seriously because of the role the gear plays in landing. The precise technical cause of the warning on BA2672 has not been independently established.
The squawk 7700 code is the internationally recognised transponder signal pilots use to declare a general emergency. It alerts air traffic controllers and gives the aircraft priority handling, but it does not automatically mean the aircraft is in immediate danger — it is also used when pilots need priority assistance for a technical malfunction or another operational concern.
No injuries have been reported in connection with the incident. Affected passengers were provided with overnight accommodation, and the flight was due to depart for Palma later today.
London’s airports have faced disruption in recent weeks: Heathrow and Stansted saw flight delays, while Storm Austen disrupted flights at Heathrow and Gatwick.
