An operational incident at London Gatwick Airport on the night of Tuesday, the 14th, led to the closure of the only runway after an aircraft became stranded on the tarmac. This unexpected situation forced nine planes to declare emergencies due to critically low fuel levels.
The incident began when British Airways flight BA-2673, arriving from Palma de Mallorca, Spain, landed at 23:50. Upon landing, the Airbus A320, with the tail number G-GATS, was intercepted by emergency crews and subsequently immobilized on the main runway.
As the runway remained blocked, Gatwick's air traffic control suspended all landings, compelling incoming aircraft to enter holding patterns. As the disruption continued, several planes began reaching critical fuel levels, necessitating emergency declarations from pilots to ensure they received priority for landing at alternate airports.
Among the nine aircraft that issued emergency calls due to low fuel were flights from easyJet, British Airways, Jet2, and TUI Airways, originating from various cities including Agadir, Valencia, Fuerteventura, Athens, Rome, Bari, Tenerife, Lanzarote, and Rhodes. Thanks to these emergency declarations, air traffic control was able to prioritize routes, allowing flights to be diverted and land safely, particularly at London Luton and London Stansted airports.
As reported by aeroin.net.
