British Airways jet 'seconds from disaster after stalling above London'
Sources said the alarming incident was the "the most serious ‘near miss’ in the UK in years”.
A British Airways jet was just 'seconds from disaster' as it sailed above London after a near-catastrophic failure.
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The Dusseldorf flight was 4,000ft in the air when one of the aircraft's data systems 'failed', it has been reported, requiring a rare intervention by the captain.
Sources said the alarming incident on July 6 was the "the most serious ‘near miss’ in the UK in years”.
Flight BA919 was above Canary Wharf it began to stall, the Sun reported.
The Airbus A320 was approaching Heathrow when the captain made the highly unusual call to override the first officer to try and address the problem.
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A source said: “To recover from this position is difficult, especially so low to the ground.
“It is unheard of for a captain to physically intervene in the cockpit.”
The captain is now believed to be off on “stress leave”.
Senior insiders said there was nearly a "hull loss" - when an aircraft is seriously damaged beyond repair.
The incident has been reported as “Loss of Control In-flight” and “Pilot Induced”.
The incident is now being investigated by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch.
British Airways said it was assisting the probe and the Civil Aviation Authority said it could not comment.