Flying overnight from Dallas to London on AA20, I was settling in for what I expected to be a routine transatlantic flight when we suddenly veered east. The pilot came over the intercom to let us know the GPS wasn’t working correctly and we’d be diverting to New York’s JFK instead of crossing the Atlantic. At first, it didn’t seem like a huge deal, but once I saw our holding pattern on the map, the situation felt a lot more real.
Turns out, the 777 has backup navigation, but crews don’t take chances over oceanic airspace without GPS. We landed safely at JFK, but it was a big reminder of just how quickly a long-haul flight can shift.
Have you ever had a diversion like this? I’m curious how often these mid-air reroutes actually happen on international flights
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