A plane heading to Heathrow Airport from Barcelona made an emergency landing on Thursday (September 19) after a "technical issue" was discovered on board.

The A320 people carrier made a diversion to Toulouse Blagnac Airport, in France, where it landed at 11.20am.

A British Airways spokesperson said: "The aircraft landed safely after our highly-trained pilots diverted the aircraft to Toulouse as a precaution after a technical issue.

"The safety of our customers is always our top priority and we are sorry for the resulting delay to their travel plans."

The plane made a rapid descent after discovering a 'technical fault' Pic: Air live

Engineers are said to be examining the plane for any technical faults.

The diversion comes just days after a flight headed to New York was aborted after a plane was hit by a bird .

On that occasion, the plane circled over Surrey before landing back at Heathrow after residents said they heard the plane making strange noises as it flew overhead.