An incident involving a British Airways flight led to an emergency landing due to four passengers suffering from “smoke inhalation.” The Airbus A320, en route from Istanbul to London, diverted its course and landed at Bucharest Henri Coanda International Airport following the emergency. The BA603 flight, carrying 142 passengers, requested the landing at 5.50 pm local time and touched down at 6.14 pm. Medical teams promptly attended to the affected passengers upon landing.
Subsequently, Romania’s Ministry of Health confirmed the presence of smoke upon the plane’s landing, leading to the evacuation of all passengers. The Ministry reported that four individuals exhibited symptoms of smoke exposure but were attended to on-site and did not require further medical attention.
British Airways emphasized that passenger and crew safety is their utmost priority, attributing the diversion to a suspected technical issue. The airline ensured that the aircraft landed safely, passengers disembarked normally, and efforts were made to minimize disruptions to their journeys.
Regarding reports of smoke on board, British Airways denied receiving any such reports or instances of hospitalizations. Flight BA603’s status was updated to show the diversion with an apology message to passengers. No additional details were provided at the time.
In a separate incident, a United Airlines plane made an emergency landing at Heathrow Airport after smoke filled the cabin mid-flight. Flight UA949, originally bound for San Francisco, returned to London due to the issue. Emergency services responded to the situation, and the aircraft was escorted to the gate for evaluation by the maintenance team before resuming departure.
