Concerns were raised on Twitter this lunchtime after a British Airways flight en route Instanbul suddenly announced it was returning to Heathrow Airport.
Twitter sprung into life at about 11am today (Thursday) with talk of a technical or medical emergency on board the squawking 7700.
However British Airways confirmed to getwestlondon that BA676 has landed safely and that the problem was a 'minor technical issue' with the Boeing 767.
A spokesman said: "The captain decided as a precaution to turn back to Heathrow after a suspected minor technical fault. It is nothing to be concerned about at all. The plane landed as normal. Passengers will be put on another flight."
Twitter user Danielle Murphy was a passenger on the flight in question and has tweeted photos of firemen examining the fuselage on the ground at Heathrow.
She also re-tweeted an update from AirLiveNet reporting the Captain had identified a significant issue with the artificial horizon instruments which had to be removed from the plane.
Fellow Twitter user Andrew Hodson was alerted to the squawking plane via the flightradar24 website which tracks planes.
He said: "I knew it would pass over Kew which isn't far from here so I nipped out with my long lens and got a quick shot as it passed overhead.
"Issues like these are fairly common and planes often have to turn back whenever there is a problem with anything technical on board.
Getwestlondon is grateful to Mr Hodson for allowing us to publish the photograph he took below.
