BA jet involved in two emergency landings at Gatwick

British Airways said the two technical issues were "unrelated"

A British Airways plane was involved in two emergency landings in the space of 10 days, it has emerged.

A flight from Italy made an emergency landing at Gatwick Airport shortly after midnight on 20 July, when the crew reported a technical fault.

On Monday the runway at Gatwick had to be closed again after the same aircraft, this time on its way to Greece, returned "as a precaution".

A British Airways spokesperson said the two issues were unrelated.

In the first alert, the Airbus A320 was en route from Naples to Gatwick when the problem was identified and airport officials alerted to the need for a priority landing.

Ten days later the same plane, providing the BA2552 flight from Gatwick to Crete, returned shortly after take off, forcing the closure of the runway while the aircraft was inspected.

'Thorough maintenance checks'

In a statement the airline said: "The safety of our customers and crew is always our priority. ​The aircraft had two unrelated minor technical issues over a two-week period.

"The first incident related to an issue with the wheel door, and the second was a steering issue.

"We carried out thorough maintenance checks after each of these instances, and would never operate a flight unless it was safe to do so.

"There is absolutely no suggestion that this would affect other aircraft."

Nobody was hurt in either incident, although some flights were diverted and others delayed.

The Civil Aviation Authority said it did not comment on individual incidents but pointed out those that were reported related to "safety-related events which, if not corrected or addressed, could endanger an aircraft, its occupants or any other person".