Priority landing for BA jet in fumes alert

The pilots of a British Airways plane had to request a priority landing at Heathrow today after fumes were detected in the passenger cabin.

Emergency services attended as the Boeing 757, with 137 passengers aboard, landed safely just after 8am.

No one was hurt or taken ill and passengers were able to disembark normally after the flight, which had taken off from Nice in France at around 6.30am UK time.

A BA spokesman said: "The crew asked for a priority landing after fumes were detected in the cabin. Our engineers are now inspecting the plane."

The incident follows that of a BA Boeing 777 which had to make an emergency landing in Berlin after an electrical fault was discovered on a TV screen in economy class on a flight to Delhi.

The flight from Heathrow, with 222 passengers on board, touched down safely at Berlin and then returned to London before leaving for Delhi again after being checked by engineers.