A British Airways flight from Heathrow to India had to turn around mid-air when it suffered a “technical issue”.
The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner was less than an hour into its journey from the west London airport to Chennai.
Flight BA35 circled over the strait of Dover to dump fuel before safely landing back on the runway at 1.50pm on Sunday, according to data on Flightradar24.
Just hours later, a New Delhi-bound Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner flight returned to its origin of Hong Kong as a precautionary measure, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
It comes days after the airline’s Flight AI171 to London Gatwick - using the same type of Boeing aircraft - crashed in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad moments after take-off killing all but one of the 242 passengers and crew members.
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Doctors say 270 bodies have been recovered as officials try to establish how many died on the ground.
The plane lost altitude and ploughed into a building that was used as doctors’ accommodation near Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport.
The Dreamliner involved in the latest incident is now undergoing checks.
Flight AI 315 took off from Hong Kong at 12.16 pm local time and landed just over an hour later, according to tracking data on Flightradar24.
It reached an altitude of 22,000 feet, and then started descending, website AirNav Radar said. The plane was seven years old.
Boeing and Air India did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
BA told MailOnline the Chennai-bound flight returned to London Heathrow as a “standard precaution” and it was not an emergency landing. The website claimed a flap failure had been the cause.
Unverified footage posted on social media from onboard the aircraft showed fuel being dumped.
A BA said: “The aircraft returned to Heathrow as a standard precaution after reports of a technical issue.
“The flight landed safely with crew and customers disembarking as they normally would, and our teams worked hard to get their journeys back on track as soon as possible.”
