Nairobi-bound plane forced to dump oil and return to London
A British Airways plane destined for Nairobi from London on Thursday was forced to dump oil and return to Heathrow airport after developing mechanical issues.
Daily Mail reports that the plane was spotted circling Canterbury with its wheels down.
“The 747 left Heathrow Airport at around 11.23am, around an hour later than scheduled, and was due to land in Kenya just before 8pm UK-time,” reports the Mail.
“The plane had to circle the area at around 8,000ft, and then flew over The Channel to dump fuel.”
The publication, citing social media reports, said the plane’s nose gear “became stuck after take-off”.
It wheeled down back at Heathrow at 1pm UK time.
A BA spokesman said told the publication: “The aircraft has a minor technical issue and is returning to Heathrow purely as a precaution. We apologise to customers for the disruption to their journey and we aim to have them on the way again soon.”