British Airways flight called mayday on approach to Heathrow

A British Airways Airbus A320 issued a mayday call while approaching Heathrow Airport on 6 July after experiencing two stall warnings during its flight from Düsseldorf, Germany. The aircraft landed without further incident. The UK’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) confirmed it is “investigating a serious incident involving a commercial aircraft which occurred on 6 July on approach to Heathrow airport.” A British Airways spokesperson said the airline is assisting the AAIB with its investigation and is not legally able to comment further at this stage. France’s BEA (Bureau d’Enquêtes et d’Analyses pour la sécurité de l’aviation civile) reported that, as the aircraft neared Heathrow, a flight‑control system fault triggered a stall warning. The crew then switched the Airbus to “alternate law,” a flight mode that disables certain automated protection systems. A second stall warning was recorded at 3,000 feet, which experts noted likely occurred only a few miles from the airport. The initial urgency call made by the crew was later upgraded to a mayday, signalling imminent danger. The BEA website attributed the information to the AAIB, but the AAIB said it could not confirm the source of that attribution. Aviation safety researcher David Gleave remarked that mayday calls can vary in nature and that issuing an urgency call is “not unusual.” He added, “You could have sick passengers on board who require urgent medical attention… so it's up to the captains' discretion as to what they call, but it's quite different for it to be a serious malfunction on board the aircraft.” The AAIB stated its inquiry will be a correspondence‑based investigation, meaning no field team will be dispatched to the site.