A Lufthansa flight to Munich (MUC), Germany, made a U-turn to London Heathrow airport (LHR) on Thursday, Jan. 22, after the pilots found a technical issue. The flight crew transmitted the emergency signal and taxied the plane to the apron.
Technical issue in Lufthansa flight
The Airbus A320 run by Lufthansa to Munich experienced a technical issue a few minutes after takeoff from Heathrow, at 11:55 a.m.
The flight crew transmitted a squawk 7700 code at 12:18 p.m. to the airport when the aircraft was at an altitude of around 14,000 feet. Squawk 7700 is the international signal for a general in-flight emergency.
The exact technical issue is yet to be confirmed by the airline but according to Aviation Herald the technical issue could be a fire in the engine. It also mentioned that the aircraft was stopped on the parallel taxiway for an inspection by emergency services.
According to data from FlightAware, Flight LH2473, an Airbus A320, performed a loop over London and returned to its departure airport.
The spokesperson for Lufthansa gave a statement saying:
“The flight had to return due to technical reasons.”
Back-to-back incidents in January
Lufthansa’s diversion to its departure airport, Heathrow, is not the only diversion this month. Due to a strong odour in the cabin, one of Air Canada’s longest flights was diverted earlier this month and never made it to its destination.
The cabin crew announced an emergency and flew the flight back to Auckland, New Zealand. This aircraft was supposed to reach its destination, Vancouver, Canada.
It took off on Tuesday, January 13, from Auckland, New Zealand, at 2 p.m. local time. A spokesperson for Air Canada said:
“The aircraft landed normally and has been taken offline for an inspection by maintenance and technical professionals. We are making arrangements for passengers to be rebooked to their final destination.”
Back-to-back diversion incidents at the start of 2026 create worrying signs among the travellers in the UK.
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