British Airways flight BA259 live: Updates as plane makes u-turn and issues mid-air alert

British Airways flight BA259 live: Updates as plane makes u-turn and issues mid-air alert British Airways flight BA259 from London Heathrow to Chicago made a u-turn above Ireland after issuing an emergency alert A British Airways flight has been diverted back to the UK just an hour into it's journey to Chicago flight tracking data suggest. The British Airways Flight BA295 declared an emergency mid-flight following a sudden and steep descent while flying over Ireland. The Boeing 777-200ER plane departed from London Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 5 at 11.50 AM this morning, with a scheduled flight time of 8 hours and 40 minutes to Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD). About an hour after takeoff, the aircraft had climbed to its cruising altitude of 37,000 feet when it appeared to encounter an issue and declared an emergency. Flight-tracking data shows the aircraft descended rapidly from cruising altitude to around 9,000 feet while over Ireland.