BA flight makes emergency landing after four suffer possible smoke inhalation

The pilots on the Airbus A320, which was carrying 142 passengers, had requested an emergency landing at Bucharest Henri Coanda International Airport (John Walton/PA)

A British Airways flight en route from Istanbul to London was forced to make an emergency landing in Romania’s capital after four people on board reportedly suffered possible smoke inhalation, authorities have said.

The pilots on the Airbus A320, which was carrying 142 passengers, had requested an emergency landing at Bucharest Henri Coanda International Airport at 5.50pm local time (1420 GMT) and landed at 6.14pm (1514 GMT), after which an emergency response team, including a medical crew, boarded the plane, the airport said.

Romania’s Ministry of Health later said in a statement that immediately after the plane landed, “the presence of smoke was confirmed”, and everyone on board was evacuated.

Four people are in poor health, possibly being smoke-intoxicated, and are receiving medical assistance on site

“Four people are in poor health, possibly being smoke-intoxicated, and are receiving medical assistance on site,” the ministry said, adding that the situation is “dynamic” and that more details will follow.

It was not yet clear if the four affected were passengers or cabin crew.

British Airways did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The airline’s flight status page showed Flight BA603 as having been diverted, with the message: “We’re very sorry, this flight scheduled from Istanbul to London, has been diverted to Bucharest.”

No further details were provided.