A British Airways A380 flight from London to Miami was diverted to Orlanda mid-flight, affecting hundreds of passengers in the air and thousands more down on the ground.
Despite heading for sunshine in Miami, the passengers were instead faced with heavy turbulence, with dangerous storms and low visibility forcing the plane to land at Orlanda International Airport instead.
Departing London Heathrow at 10am on June 2, the flight should have taken nine and a half hours, but an extra hour was added to the journey as the plane was held in a holding pattern above Free Port in the Bahamas as control crews on the ground waited for the weather to improve.
Visibility in the air was reduced to just one mile, where it’s usually around three miles. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t improve enough to land, forcing BA209 to divert its course to Orlando.
The British Airways flight wasn’t alone in being affected, with at least 368 flights facing delays and 20 more being flat out cancelled in Miami, according to data from FlightAware.
The chaos extended beyong Miami as well, with other southeastern American airports taking on unexpected flights needing a place to land.
For Londoners, it’s not just the hundreds of passengers an BA209 facing issues, but also those waiting to take the plane back to London on BA206.
The flight to Miami was expected to be turned around for the return flight back, leaving at 5pm (local time), ferrying holidaymakers back to the UK.
However, the knock-on effects of the diversion meant it didn’t leave until 11:03pm and is estimated to land back in London at midday on June 3, around five hours later than planned.
Multiple carriers, as well as British Airways, had to grapple with the weather, with hundreds of flights forced to divert across the region.
© The Standard Ltd