British Airways flight BA343 declares 'mid-air emergency' on way from Nice to Heathrow
BRITISH Airways flight BA343 was forced to send out a mid-air emergency alert before making an emergency landing at Heathrow.
British Airways flight was forced to make a quick landing
The flight was on its way from Nice to Heathrow when it reported problems with the landing gear.
It was flying at 34,000ft and was approaching the English Channel when it issued the emergency call.
Air traffic controllers supported the flight as it made its way towards the capital.
After reaching UK airspace at around 1pm - the place was told to circle above London for almost 20 minutes as a team worked on the ground.
BREAKING British Airways #BA343 to London Heathrow has landing gear problem. Live: http://t.co/VUcjNPobRa pic.twitter.com/1H77fK32io
— AirLive.net (@airlivenet) May 18, 2015
Despite early concerns the plane landed safely with emergency crews taxi-ing it to the gate.
A spokeswoman for British Airways said: "Our flight landed safely after a suspected technical issue.
"The safety of our customers and crew is always our first priority and the aircraft will be checked by our engineers before returning to service."