The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) released a report on Jan. 8, 2026, explaining the details of the “British Airways passengers and a crew member suffered from injuries on a flight to London Heathrow during turbulence” incident. This incident happened Dec. 6, 2024, on a flight to London Heathrow from Los Angeles while flying near Greenland.
What happened on British Airways:
According to the report, the crew received briefing documents before the flight and was unaware of the turbulent weather before takeoff.
While flying, they were alerted about the development of “potentially severe turbulence” south of Greenland through a live weather app on their electronic flight bags (EFB), an iPad-like electronic device.
When the plane was approaching this area, the captain switched on the seat belt sign and asked the passengers and crew to take their own seats.
After switching on the seat belt sign, 20 minutes later, 10 to 15 seconds of turbulence were experienced on the flight. During this, a crew member fell and broke her ankle as she tried to lower her seat to strap herself in, as per the AAIB report.
At the same time, a passenger from the upper deck was also injured and broke his ankle as he left his seat to use the toilet. According to reports, the passenger claimed that he was asleep when the seat belt sign was switched on and did not notice it or hear any announcements.
Apart from these injuries, another passenger felt unwell and became unconscious. Two passengers who declared themselves as doctors and the cabin crew treated the injured passengers.
Aftermath of the incident:
After recurring injuries, the captain planned to land at either Gander Airport in Canada or Keflavik Airport in Iceland. However, because of bad weather, they aborted the plan.
The captain and the crew consulted with MedLink, an aviation medical advisory service, and decided to continue the journey to London Heathrow.
They declared the medical “PAN” signal before landing, which allowed air traffic control to initiate a direct route to Heathrow and call ambulances to meet the plane on arrival. The injured passengers were taken to the hospital.
British Airways stated:
Safety is always our priority, and our highly skilled pilots and cabin crew are trained to manage rare events such as this. The aircraft landed safely at London Heathrow, where our teams looked after both our colleague and the customer.
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