British Airways flight declares mid-air alert sparking emergency response

A British Airways flight declared a mid-air alert that triggered an emergency response at Gatwick Airport.

BA flight EFW34R from Gatwick to Palma de Mallorca departed at 8.06am, but was forced to turn around near Le Mans in France after unconfirmed reports of smoke in the cabin, according to Sussex News.

The plane issued a Squawk 7700 alert, indicating an emergency. It landed safely at Gatwick with the runway cleared.

The flight was met by Gatwick Fire Service and ground crews and was taxing to a gate.

Sussex News posted on its X account just after 9.30am: “The British Airways Flight EFW34R (BA2670) has landed safely at Gatwick and cleared the runway.

“It was met by Gatwick Fire Service and ground crews and is now taxing to a gate. The runway has been inspected, and flight operations can now resume.”

A 7700 squawk code is used to indicate an emergency of any kind on a jet. It tells ground controllers an aircraft has a serious issue onboard and should be given help.

We’ll be bringing you the very latest updates, pictures and video on this breaking news story.

For the latest news and breaking news visit: /news

Stay up to date with all the big headlines, pictures, analysis, opinion and video on the stories that matter to you.

Follow our social media accounts here on facebook.com/DailyExpress and @daily_express