British Airways flight declares emergency over Bristol Channel - what we know so far

It's believed the aircraft experienced a 'technical issue'

A British Airways (BA) flight has declared an emergency after making a U-turn over the Bristol Channel this afternoon (Monday, September 14).

Flight Tracker showed the aircraft looped round near to Cardiff before flying above waters near Weston, Clevedon and Portishead.

A spokesperson for Flight Tracker posted on Twitter to say the aircraft experienced a 'technical issue'.

And chiefs at British Airways have now confirmed the aircraft has landed safely in London.

Here is everything we know so far.

Where was the plane going?

The passenger aircraft was destined for New York’s JFK airport, with an estimated time of 6.33pm.

It took off from Heathrow at 3.38pm before declaring an emergency less than an hour later at 4.15pm.

It is the first time the Boeing 777-236 has taken off since June 25, according to FlightRadar.

What's happening now?

Reports on social media show emergency services have lined the runway at Heathrow as they await for the plane to return.

A spokesperson for British Airways has confirmed the plane landed safely.

They said: "The aircraft landed safely after our highly trained pilots opted to return to Heathrow as a precaution.

"We’ve said sorry to our customers for the delay to their journey, and we’ll get them back on their way as quickly as we can."

You can follow all of the latest updates about this incident here.