Two International Flights to India Turn Back Mid-Air: Technical Fault and Bomb Threat Trigger Precautionary Landings
New Delhi, 16th June 2025: Two major international flights bound for India were forced to return mid-air on Sunday and Monday due to separate emergencies — a technical fault and a bomb threat — both involving Boeing Dreamliner aircraft.
British Airways flight BA35, operating a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, departed from London’s Heathrow Airport for Chennai on Sunday at 1:16 PM (local time). However, shortly after takeoff, the pilot detected a technical issue. According to flight tracking data from FlightRadar24, the aircraft circled multiple times over the Bay of Dover before turning back to Heathrow as a safety precaution.
In a statement, British Airways confirmed:
“Our flight had to be brought back to Heathrow Airport as a precaution due to a minor technical fault. The plane landed safely. All passengers and crew are safe. Our teams are working to resume the journey of passengers as soon as possible.”
Meanwhile, Lufthansa flight LH752 from Frankfurt to Hyderabad faced a more alarming situation. The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner had to return to Germany late Sunday night after a bomb threat was reported while the aircraft was still in international airspace.
A Lufthansa spokesperson stated:
“We were not allowed to land in Hyderabad, so the plane had to return to Frankfurt.”
A senior official at Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport confirmed the bomb threat was received before the aircraft entered Indian airspace. As a precautionary measure, Indian authorities denied landing permission, and the plane returned to its origin airport.
