Nine passenger jets declared fuel emergencies within a short period over southern England after a single disabled aircraft brought operations at Gatwick Airport to a standstill, creating an extraordinary chain reaction that forced multiple flights to hold, divert or seek priority landing.
The disruption began late on Tuesday night, 14 July 2026, when British Airways flight BA2673, an Airbus A320 arriving from Palma de Mallorca, landed safely but was unable to vacate the runway because of a technical fault affecting its nose-wheel steering. With Gatwick operating on a single runway overnight, the unexpected incident quickly disrupted arriving traffic, leaving inbound aircraft circling while air traffic controllers worked to restore normal operations.
