A British Airways Boeing 787 turned around between Greenland and Canada after the crew noticed the runway was too short following equipment failure.
London Heathrow (LHR) – British Airways flight BA243 to Mexico City (MEX) was forced to turn back to London Heathrow Airport (LHR) on Wednesday, December 10, 2025, after flying for almost nine hours due to an equipment failure.
The Boeing 787-9, registered as G-ZBKR, took off from London Heathrow Airport at 12:59 GMT. It reached a cruise altitude of 36,000 feet before the crew determined a safe landing in Mexico City would not be possible given the aircraft’s condition.
The Dreamliner turned around after 4 hours in the air, already flying between Greenland and Canada at FL350.
The captain communicated the critical decision to the passengers, explaining the reason for the diversion: “The runway is too short in Mexico City for the landing we will do with the type of failure the equipment has presented and thus the company has instructed us to go back to Heathrow.”
The aircraft spent 8 hours and 46 minutes in the air before successfully landing back at its originating airport on runway 27R.
As a result of the incident, the flight was delayed overnight. British Airways rescheduled the departure for the following day, Thursday, December 11, with a new scheduled departure time of 12:00. The aircraft to perform the flight is G-ZBKR.
