A British Airways crew were sent to hospital following an emergency Airbus A320 landing in Tenerife on Sunday. The action was taken as a precaution after fumes were detected in the cabin.

Passengers onboard British Airways flight 2730 were likely alarmed when cabin crew donned smoke hoods on Saturday. The aircraft was forced to descend early at a rate of around 3,150ft per minute to 9,000ft. Thankfully everybody onboard the aircraft was unharmed, however, the cabin crew were taken to hospital as a precaution, according to the airline.

All about the flight

British Airways flight BA 2730 flies between London Gatwick and Tenerife South six times a week. In fact, it operates daily with the exception of Thursdays. The flight didn't get off to a great start when it departed London Gatwick around 1 hour and 45 minutes behind schedule. However, rather than get better, things got worse!

Around 200 nautical miles away from Tenerife, the Aviation Herald reports that pilots noticed that there were fumes in the cockpit. They alerted the local air traffic controllers through a Pan Pan call. This is used when an aircraft needs assistance but there is no danger to life. The flight then landed safely in Tenerife at 15:24, almost an hour and a half behind schedule.

British Airways Airbus A320 Tenerife Emergency
The aircraft expedited its descent into Tenerife South. Image: FlightRadar24.com

The aircraft involved was G-GATN, a 17.7-year-old Airbus A320-200. It was originally delivered to TAM in 2001, however, joined the British Airways fleet in July 2015. The aircraft bears the manufacturers serial number 1613.

So what happened?

According to the Av Herald, flight attendants donned smoke hoods. These are usually used by cabin crew to deal with smoke onboard the aircraft. Given that the fumes were observed, they may have consisted of smoke. The publication also reported that cabin crew took supplemental oxygen during the flight after they experienced symptoms similar to hypoxia.

A British Airways spokesperson told Simple Flying that the pilots and passengers did not go to the hospital. They added that the cabin crew were taken as a precaution. It would appear that there was smoke inside the cockpit. As smoke rises, it is likely that the pilots and passengers were unaffected being sat down. Meanwhile, the cabin crew's heads would've been much higher.

British Airways Tenerife Emergency Airbus A320
The cabin crew are reported to have used supplemental oxygen. Photo: British Airways

British Airways additionally provided Simple Flying with the following statement regarding the Tenerife emergency:

The safety of our customers and crew is always our priority. ​We always carry out thorough maintenance checks after a technical issue with an aircraft, and would never operate a flight unless it was safe to do so.

Thankfully, it appears that nobody was seriously affected by the incident. The aircraft's return journey was cancelled. The aircraft then remained in Tenerife for 29 hours, after which it was ferried back to London Gatwick empty before re-entering service the next day.

Were you onboard BA 2730? What do you make of the Tenerife emergency? Let us know in the comments!