NEED TO KNOW
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An Air France flight performed a turnaround over the Atlantic Ocean on Tuesday, Aug. 19
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The Paris-bound flight returned to JFK International Airport after the pilot reported a right engine failure
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The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed the incident
An Air France flight departing New York’s JFK International Airport turned around over the Atlantic Ocean after declaring an emergency.
According to flight tracker FlightAware, Air France flight AF9 left JFK at 12:28 a.m. local time on Tuesday, Aug. 19. As the Paris-bound Boeing 777-300ER made its way over the Atlantic, it diverted back to its origin at 1:14 a.m.
“Mayday, mayday, mayday,” the pilot declared in an audio recording obtained by LiveATC.net. The pilot later confirmed to air traffic controllers the plane was experiencing a right engine failure. This caused crews to declare an emergency squawk 7700 — an international distress code.
After stating the nature of the emergency, the pilot requested a return to JFK. The plane, carrying 311 passengers and crew and 6.5 hours worth of fuel, made a right turn back towards the Empire State.
After initiating the turnaround, the flight made a direct return, landing at 2:15 a.m. The total flight lasted just over two hours.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed the incident in a statement, explaining the flight “returned safely” after crews reported “a possible engine issue.” The agency confirmed it would investigate the incident.
Air France did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Earlier this week, an American Airlines pilot declared a mayday shortly after takeoff due to “multiple failures” onboard.
On the evening of Sunday, Aug. 17, American Airlines flight 2616 left Boston Logan International Airport. About 10 minutes into the flight, the crews diverted the Philadelphia-bound plane back to Boston.
“Boston, American 2616 we’re lowering to 8,000, declaring a mayday,” the pilot says in an audio recording posted by LiveATC.net. “We need to return back to Boston. We have a loss of the autopilot, loss of auto-thrust and we have a position disagree between both of our [flight management systems]”
They added: “We have multiple failures including navigation and automation as well.”
The FAA confirmed the flight “returned safely” to Boston Logan around 7:30 p.m., per a statement. According to the agency, crews “reported a possible flight system issue.”
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A spokesperson for American Airlines confirmed a “maintenance issue” onboard.
“The flight landed safely and taxied to the gate under its own power,” they shared in a statement. “The aircraft has been taken out of service to be inspected by our maintenance team.”
They added: “We never want to disrupt our customers’ travel plans and apologize for the inconvenience.”
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