Passenger on British Airways mayday flight describes fear and shout of 'I don't want to die'

Passenger Edward Killiwick, who was returning from a friend’s event in Düsseldorf with his wife Julie on 6 July, recounted the fear and confusion that unfolded aboard a British Airways flight that issued a distress call before landing at Heathrow. He said passengers were informed that the landing had been aborted, and then he felt a "very convulsive manoeuvre" and "did deliberation we could crash". Killiwick added that he and his wife had to comfort a woman who "completely mislaid it and started screaming, 'I don't privation to die'". The aircraft touched down safely, but the incident is under investigation with assistance from British Airways. The UK’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said it was "investigating a superior incident", while France’s Bureau d’Enquêtes et d’Analyses pour la sécurité de l’aviation civile (BEA) noted on Wednesday that the Airbus A320 had transmitted a distress signal. Killiwick described the episode: "The convulsive manoeuvre astir felt similar it was avoiding different aircraft. You could consciousness the engines going astatine afloat power." He continued, "It was a spot unusual going astir successful a holding signifier with nary information. I thought if they're not talking, past they're not successful a bully place." The flight remained in a holding pattern for approximately 15 minutes. According to the BEA, as the aircraft approached Heathrow a fault in the flight‑control system triggered a stall warning. The crew then flew the plane under “alternate law”, which disengages certain automated protections. A second stall warning appeared at 3,000 feet, a height experts said was only a few miles from the airport. The earlier distress call was upgraded to a mayday, signalling imminent danger. A British Airways spokesperson said the airline is assisting the AAIB’s investigation and is unable to comment further at this stage. Killiwick summed up his experience: "I was decidedly scared. After the convulsive manoeuvre I thought, determination is decidedly thing precise severely incorrect here. I did deliberation we could crash. " He added, "I did deliberation it was a possibility, and I deliberation everyone other did."