Plane bound for San Francisco forced to turn back to Heathrow

Pilots of a transatlantic passenger plane have had to turn their aircraft round and return to Heathrow.

The United Airlines flight UA900 bound for San Francisco landed safely back at the west London airport, a spokesman for the carrier said.

Last week a United plane en route from Heathrow to Washington DC with 150 passengers on board had to make an emergency landing at Dublin after what United described as a "technical issue".