Nine jets declared fuel emergencies after a British Airways A320 blocked London Gatwick's runways 

Unprecedented fuel emergency situation over London Gatwick

A total of 14 flights bound for London Gatwick Airport (LGW) were forced to divert in the early hours of Wednesday morning, with nine of them declaring fuel emergencies and squawking 7700.

This occurred after a British Airways Airbus A320 became disabled on the airport's only operational runway, forcing many inbound flights into a sustained holding pattern.

The stricken aircraft, a 24-year-old A320 (G-GATS) operating flight BA2673 from Palma De Mallorca Airport (PMI), suffered a nose wheel failure and came to a stop on Runway 08L, leaving multiple arriving aircraft with nowhere to land. Diversion airports included London Luton (LTN), London Stansted (STN), Birmingham (BHX), and Bristol (BRS). 

Elsewhere, one aircraft was permitted to land at London Heathrow (LHR) despite its strict night curfew.

The incident began when BA2673 was on approach to Gatwick. The flight was scheduled to land at around 11:50 PM on Tuesday, but the flight crew reported a problem with the aircraft's nose wheel on approach and entered a holding pattern. The flight eventually landed at 12:50 AM local time on Wednesday, where it was metf by fire and ground vehicles as a precaution

 However, due to the issue with its nose wheel, the A320 became stuck on Runway 08L, which is Gatwick's only operational runway.