United Airlines plane issues major emergency alert in mid-flight incident over UK

   

A passenger plane was forced make a u-turn and declare and emergency landing shortly after taking off from Heathrow with over 80 people on board.

Remarkable footage appears to show United Airlines flight UA147 landing at Heathrow with the left engine seemingly spinning in a strange way.

The aircraft had just left the London airport when it declared a problem over the skies of Britain.

A previous report by AviationSource said the issue was a problem with one of the hydraulic flaps.

This was not confirmed by United Airlines, which told the Daily Star the aircraft "returned to London Heathrow airport to address a potential mechanical issue".

The airline said 81 people, including 11 crew members, were onboard at the time.

United Airlines said: "The flight landed safely and was subsequently cancelled. We are working to rebook customers on the next available flight to Newark. "

UA147 had left Heathrow, the busiest airport in Europe, for Newark Airport in New Jersey, US.

The Boeing 767m in service for around 28 years, then squawked an emergency code and returned to Heathrow.

Flight tracking by the website flightradar24 shows that UA147 has since landed safely back at Heathrow.

Flights at Heathrow resumed last week after the airport was shut over a loss of power.

Flights resumed at the west London airport on Friday evening following hours of closure after a blaze knocked out an electricity substation in Hayes late on Thursday evening.

The Metropolitan Police are not treating the incident as suspicious and the London Fire Brigade’s investigation is focusing on the electrical distribution equipment.

Counter-terrorism officers from the Metropolitan Police have been leading the investigation into the cause of the fire, which did not result in any casualties at the scene.