Under FAA JAA IKO rulings, it is mandated that if and when an emergency is declared by an airborne plane, ATC immediately diverts all incoming traffic and gives priority to the emergency situation. Most, if not all, of the events we have described as emergency are official emergencies. However, sometimes they are incorrectly reported as emergencies by our sources, have been downgraded from official emergency status, or are believed to be emergencies by passengers in fear for their lives.
Royal Jordanian Airlines flight RJ-611 had to divert for an emergency landing in Doha, Qatar, on May 18th.
The Airbus A320-200 plane heading from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to Amman, Jordan, was diverted after the crew found an unidentified object on-board.
The plane landed uneventfully. All passengers and crew members remained safe.
Upon checking, the security forces did not find any hazardous material.
United Airlines flight UA-2823 had to return and make an emergency landing in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on May 18th.
The Boeing 767-300 plane took off for Newark, New Jersey, but had to turn back after the crew noticed a fuel balance problem.
The plane landed safely. Everyone aboard remained unharmed.
Mesa Airlines flight YV-6259 had to return and make an emergency landing in Columbus, Ohio, on May 18th.
The plane took off for Houston, Texas, but had to return shortly afterwards due to a bird strike.
The plane landed safely. All passengers and crew members remained unharmed.
American Airlines flight AA-1803 had to make an emergency landing at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, Texas, on May 17th.
The Airbus A321-200 plane heading from San Francisco, California, to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was diverted due to issues with the weather radar and navigation systems.
The plane landed uneventfully. Everyone aboard remained safe.
Delta Airlines flight DL-71 had to return and make an emergency landing in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on May 18th.
The Airbus A330-300 plane took off for Atlanta, Georgia, but had to turn back after the crew reported an engine problem.
The plane landed back safely. Everyone aboard remained unharmed.
Norwegian Air International flight D8-371 had to make an emergency landing at Gatwick Airport, England, on May 17th.
The Boeing 737-800 plane took off for Helsinki, Finland, but had to return shortly afterwards after the crew noticed an issue with the slats.
The plane landed back safely. There were 183 people aboard at the time; all of them remained unharmed.
Mesa Airlines flight YV-6073 had to divert and make an emergency landing in Louisville, Kentucky, on May 18th.
The Embraer ERJ-175 plane heading from Toronto, Canada, to Houston, Texas, was diverted due to indication of a hydraulic failure.
All four main tires burst as the plane landed in Louisville. All 77 people aboard remained unharmed.
JetBlue flight B6-1808 had to return and make an emergency landing at Washington Dulles International Airport, Virginia, on May 17th.
The Embraer ERJ-190 plane took off for John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York, but had to turn back due to a bird strike.
The plane landed uneventfully. All 66 people aboard remained safe.
The emergency services found a fuel leak while checking the plane.
British Airways flight BA-360 had to return and make an emergency landing at Heathrow Airport, England, on May 17th.
The Airbus A320-200 plane was heading to Lyon, France, when the crew decided to turn back due to an engine failure.
The plane landed back safely. Everyone aboard remained unharmed.
The airline said the flight returned to Heathrow Airport due to a technical issue.
Austrian Airlines flight OS-917 made an emergency landing in Vienna, Austria, on May 16th.
The plane took off for Salzburg, Austria, but had to turn back after the crew noticed an unusual odor in the cockpit.
The plane landed back safely. There were 54 passengers and 4 crew members aboard at the time; all of them remained unharmed.
Eurowings flight EW-6812 had to divert for an emergency landing in Luxembourg on May 16th.
The Airbus A320-200 plane heading from Palma, Spain, to Dortmund, Germany, was diverted due to issues with the cabin pressurization system.
The plane landed safely. All 117 passengers aboard remained unharmed.
Piedmont Airlines flight PDT-4868 had to return and make an emergency landing at Long Island MacArthur Airport in Islip, New York, on May 16th.
The plane took off for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but had to return shortly afterwards after a light bulb in the cockpit started emitting smoke.
The plane landed back safely. All 40 passengers and 3 crew members remained unharmed.
Air Canada flight AC-877 had to return and make an emergency landing in Frankfurt, Germany, on May 15th.
The Boeing 777-300 plane took off for Toronto, Canada, but had to turn back due to a hydraulic failure.
The plane landed back safely. All passengers and crew members remained unharmed.
Turkish Airlines flight TK-623 had to return and make an emergency landing in Istanbul, Turkey, on May 15th.
The Boeing 737-900 plane took off for Abuja, Nigeria, but had to return shortly afterwards after the crew failed to retract landing gear.
The plane landed safely. All passengers and crew members remained unharmed.
Ural Airlines flight U6-3735 had to return and make an emergency landing at Koltsovo Airport, Yekaterinburg, Russia, on May 13th.
The Airbus A321-200 flying to Antalya, Turkey, had to return due to a bird strike.
The plane landed safely.
All 220 passengers and 8 crew members remained unhurt.
Jetstar Airways flight JQ-8 had to return and make an emergency landing at Singapore Changi Airport, Singapore, on May 13th.
The Boeing 787-800 flying to Melbourne, Australia, had to return due to flaps asymmetry.
The plane landed safely.
No injuries were reported.
Egypt Air flight MS-955 had to return and make an emergency landing at Cairo International Airport, Egypt, on May 15th.
The Airbus A330-200 flying to Beijing, China, had to return due to engine failure.
The plane landed safely.
All 211 people aboard remained safe.
Serene Air flight ER-502 had to return and make an emergency landing at Jinnah International Airport, Karachi, Pakistan, on May 15th.
The Boeing 737-800 flying to Islamabad, Pakistan, had to return due to cracked windshield.
The plane landed safely.
No injuries were reported.
Brussels Airlines flight SN-3169 had to return and make an emergency landing at Brussels Airport, Belgium, on May 13th.
The Airbus A319-100 flying to Naples, Italy, had to return due to bird strike.
The plane landed safely.
No one was injured.
Brussels Airlines flight SN-357 had to return and make an emergency landing at Brussels Airport, Belgium, on May 13th.
The Airbus A330-300 flying to Kinshasa, Congo, had to return due to hydraulic failure.
The plane landed safely.
No one was injured.
Southwest Airlines flight WN-1694 had to divert and make an emergency landing at Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Atlanta, Georgia, on May 12th.
The Boeing 737-300 flying from Tampa, Florida, to Nashville, Tennessee, had to divert due to water dripping off its ceiling, smoke, and unusual smell aboard.
The plane landed safely.
All 129 passengers aboard remained safe.
Eurowings flight EW-9224 had to divert and make an emergency landing at Hamburg Airport, Germany, on May 12th.
The Airbus A319-100 flying from Dusseldorf, Germany, to Gothenburg, Sweden, had to divert after the captain’s windshield cracked.
The plane landed safely.
All 98 passengers remained safe and were rebooked in other flights.
Etihad Airlines flight EY-207 returned and made an emergency landing at Jaipur International Airport, Rajasthan, India, on May 10th.
The Airbus A319-100 flying to Abu Dhabi, UAE, had to return due to an engine problem.
The plane landed safely.
All 106 people aboard remained unhurt.
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines flight KL-896 had to return and make an emergency landing at Shanghai Pudong International Airport, Shanghai Shi, China, on May 12th.
The Boeing 777-300 flying to Amsterdam, Netherlands, had to return due to problems with one of its engines.
The plane landed safely.
All 396 people aboard remained safe.
Air India flight AI-849 made a safe emergency landing at Pune Airport, Maharashtra, India, on May 12th.
The Airbus A321-200 flying from Delhi, India, had landed safely but it over-ran the end of runway.
The passengers were evacuated via slides.
All 152 people aboard remained safe.
