A regular Gulf Air flight from Bahrain to Jeddah has been declared a state of emergency and has now returned to Bahrain.
Gulf Air GF183 Bahrain – Jeddah
Gulf Airlines flight GF183 (Airbus A320-200), which was operating a scheduled flight between Bahrain International Airport (BAH) and Jeddah (JED), sounded the code 7700 immediately after departure and declared a general state of emergency.
The flight is currently descending and has begun its return to Bahrain (BAH).
Flight GF183 departed Bahrain International Airport early today, climbed FL320 (32,000 feet), and was landing on the outbound flight to Jeddah (JED) when it began its turnaround.
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Return to BAH
Flights are currently being established for the RWY30 BAH finals, with return weather conditions being Visual Weather Conditions (VFR) with light winds, no clouds and visibility of over 10 kilometers.
The nature of the emergency that warrants a preventive return to BAH is not yet known.
The aircraft operating today’s flight is an Airbus A320-200 registered A9C-AD. A 14-year-old narrow-body aircraft belonging to the airline Gulf Air.
Gulf Air is the national flag carrier and the oldest airline in the Gulf region. It was founded in 1950 and began regular flight operations in 1951.
The company is headquartered in Muharraq and operates a fleet of 35 aircraft, including Airbus A320neo, Airbus A321neo, Airbus A330-200 and Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft.
Updated at 15:00 UTC
It is understood that the Airbus A320 registered aircraft A9C-AD, which operated today, experienced a technical problem with its cabin pressurization system after takeoff, and a precautionary return to Bahrain was decided.
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