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| Date: | Thursday 3 July 2003 |
| Time: | 03:00 |
| Type: |  Boeing 777-236ER |
| Owner/operator: | British Airways |
| Registration: | G-YMME |
| MSN: | 30306/275 |
| Year of manufacture: | 2000 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 262 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | None |
| Category: | Incident |
| Location: | 10 NM North of Kindu -
 Congo (Democratic Republic)
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Passenger - Scheduled |
| Departure airport: | London-Heathrow Airport (LHR/EGLL) |
| Harare-Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport (HRE/FVRG) | |
| Investigating agency: | AAIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The aircraft was on a flight from London to Harare and was approaching the airway reporting point KINDU, situated over central Africa, at FL370. Some intermittent light turbulence had been encountered approximately one hour earlier whilst navigating around isolated storm activity, associated with the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone, but the aircraft had since experienced smooth flying conditions. The captain (the commander) was in a crew bunk on his rest break whilst two first officers remained on the flight deck. Although it was dark, the operating pilots could see that they were clear of cloud due to the stars visible to them in the night's sky. Also, they were both monitoring the weather radar which showed no sign of weather activity affecting their route. With the flying conditions smooth and no indications of turbulence ahead, the seat belt signs had been off for some time. As it was night the lights in the cabin had been dimmed with most passengers attempting to get some sleep. Some of the cabin crew, particularly those in the rear galley, were however starting to prepare trolleys for the forthcoming breakfast service.
Suddenly, the aircraft experienced a small positive 'g' movement followed by a slight shake of the airframe. The passenger seatbelt signs were immediately switched on from the flight deck at which point the aircraft suffered a severe downward movement with associated negative 'g'. The operating pilots guarded the thrust levers and speed brake in order to control the airspeed, however this remained constant throughout. The disturbance quickly stopped and the aircraft resumed its normal flight path, the flight conditions becoming smooth again. The seat belts signs were left on and over the next hour small amounts of clear air turbulence were experienced, although none were as severe as the initial encounter.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5422f90440f0b6134200068d/dft_avsafety_pdf_024588.pdf
https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/52413 (Photo)
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 11 June 2004 | G-YMME | British Airways | 0 | London Heathrow Airport (LHR/EGLL) |  |
min |
| 23 December 2021 | G-YMME | British Airways | 0 | Over Atlantic Ocean, between London Gatwick and San Jose | |
min |
| Windscreen cracks or failure | ||||||
| 15 July 2025 | G-YMME | British Airways | 0 | over southern England | |
non |
| Fumes/smoke/odor event | ||||||
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 28-Mar-2025 19:29 | Justanormalperson | Added |
| 28-Mar-2025 19:29 | ASN | Updated [Narrative, Accident report, ] |
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