London-bound plane plummets 32,000 feet in minutes in emergency descent

The airline said in a statement after the incident: "Gulf Air can confirm that flight GF003, an Airbus 330, flying from Bahrain to London on 13 December, experienced technical issues that resulted in the airline's experienced cockpit crew successfully executing an emergency descent and safely landing at Heathrow International.

"The aircraft, carrying 89 passengers, landed without incident and all passengers disembarked safely.

"The safety, protection and comfort of our passengers and employees are of utmost importance and Gulf Air crew are trained to handle such incidents as evidenced by the level of professionalism shown by both the pilots & cabin crew as well as all of our teams on the ground."

"Gulf Air is Bahrain's largest airline and flys to 23 countries around Africa, Asia and Europe."