Passenger on British Airways flight gives frightening account of how aircraft circled for over one hour

Accra bound British Airways returns to London midflight

British Airways circled the Malian airspace for about an hour, passenger narrates

British Airways to operate two flights on April 9, 2022

A passenger in the British Airways aircraft has narrated how they circled in the Malian airspace for about an hour

Read full articleafter the Military Ruler of Mali refused to allow a British Airways flight BA081 to pass through the Malian airspace, forcing the flight to return to London.

Speaking to Asaase.com, the witness whose identity was hidden said the captain had informed them of the situation and that they noticed that the flight circled around the Malian airspace for about an hour.

He added that after circling for close to an hour the flight tried landing in Algeria but was unsuccessful, they however ended up in Spain where they refuelled and departed to London.

“When the flight captain announced over the public address system in the flight about the development, we noticed that out flight was circling around the Malian airspace and that went on for about an hour” the BA flight 081 passenger told Asaase News.

“The captain after an hour of circling the Malian airspace, turned around and tried to land in Algeria but that did not work as well so he ended up landing in the city of Malaga in Spain, where he was permitted. After refueling in Malaga, the flight departed and arrived in London at about 2am Saturday 9 April 2022” the source further explained.

Even though the real reason why the Malian authorities decided to block the Accra bound British Airways flight from flying through its airspace, some experts who spoke to Asaase linked to the ECOWAS sanctioned that has been imposed on Mali.

According to them, it could be a way to express their displeasure over the sanctions imposed on them following their coup d’état of 18 August 2020 and on 24 May 2021.

ECOWAS imposed an embargo on Mali that suspend most commerce and financial aid to the country.

Meanwhile, the Ghana Civil Aviation has provided details of the circumstances that compelled the Accra-bound flight to return to London a few hours to landing.

TWI NEWS

In a press statement, they indicated that the “British Airways Flight BA 081 was unable to land in Accra on April 8, 2022, due to the Airspace Restriction in Bamako, Mali, consequently the BA flight had to return to London.”

They, however, indicated that on April 9, 2022, British Airways will operate 2 flights, the additional flights will however be communicated to passengers.