BA flight to arrive 10 hours late after being diverted to Canada and Iceland

Tuesday's BA flight to London Heathrow was diverted to Canada and Iceland after a passenger was taken ill onboard — Tuesday’s BA flight to London Heathrow was diverted to Canada and Iceland after a passenger was taken ill onboard. – Photo: British Airways

The lengthy flight from Grand Cayman to the UK became even longer for passengers on Tuesday’s British Airways flight. After a passenger was taken ill onboard, the evening flight was diverted first to Canada and then to Iceland before heading to the UK, turning a 12-hour journey into a 22-hour odyssey.

Flight Tracker’s live route maps show the British Airways flight being diverted to Canada. – Photo: Flight Tracker

The BA0252 flight from Owen Roberts International Airport had departed five minutes ahead of schedule at 6pm and arrived in Nassau, Bahamas, as planned. It then departed at 22:09pm local time for the transatlantic leg to Heathrow, but was forced to divert mid-flight to Gander in Newfoundland, Canada, after a medical issue affected one of the passengers.

British Airways online flight tracker shows the route of the diverted plane.

The plane landed in Gander just after 5am (2:30am Cayman time) and remained on the ground for 90 minutes, before taking off. However, due to regulations covering aircraft crew working hours, the flight was forced to land at the Icelandic capital of Reykjavik at 1pm local time (8am Cayman time) so that the existing crew could be replaced.

The BA0252 is now scheduled to arrived at 10pm local time, more than 10 hours after scheduled. — The BA0252 is now scheduled to arrived at 10pm local time, more than 10 hours later than scheduled.

After a 5-hour, 15-minute wait at Reykjavik airport, a new crew joined the British Airways flight. The plane is currently heading for the UK and is expected to land in Heathrow at 10pm local time, more than 10 hours after its scheduled arrival time of 11:40am.