A British Airways Airbus A320 nearly crashed over London after the first officer made a critical error during the aircraft’s approach to Heathrow Airport, officials said. The incident occurred on July 6 while Flight BA919 was descending from Dusseldorf, roughly 4,000 feet above Canary Wharf in East London.

According to sources familiar with the matter, one of the plane’s air data systems had malfunctioned, contributing to the events leading to the near accident. The aircraft stalled, and the first officer responded by pulling the nose of the plane up—a reaction contrary to standard training, which dictates that the nose should be pushed down to recover from a stall. The captain then had to physically intervene to regain control of the jet.

The situation was described by insiders as one of the most serious near misses in the United Kingdom in recent years. Aviation experts noted that recovering from a stall at such a low altitude is challenging and that physical intervention by a captain in the cockpit is highly unusual. Senior officials also acknowledged the incident almost resulted in a "hull loss," an aviation term indicating severe damage or destruction of the aircraft.

The captain involved has since been placed on stress leave. The episode has been classified as a "loss of control in-flight," and the cause categorized as "pilot-induced." The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) has launched a formal inquiry into the incident.

British Airways stated that it is fully cooperating with the ongoing investigation. Meanwhile, the UK Civil Aviation Authority declined to comment while the probe is underway. The inquiry will aim to determine all contributing factors and recommend measures to prevent similar incidents in the future.