A British Airways plane bound for Seattle from London Heathrow declared an emergency just 60 minutes into the flight today and was forced to turn back . As the Boeing 777 was in airspace over Scotland , the pilot reportedly found a problem with the oxygen supply in the cabin , and declared their intent to return to its airport of origin . After the plane took a detour over the Irish Sea to 'dump fuel ' it returned to London safely with all 218 passengers and 14 crew unharmed . The plane bound for Seattle was snapped over Coventry during its return to London Heathrow . The plane was given priority to land at Heathrow forcing other incoming flights into a holding pattern during one of the airport 's busiest periods . A spokesperson for British Airways told MailOnline Travel that the aircraft returned to Heathrow 'as a precaution due to a suspected technical problem . ' 'Our pilots are highly trained to deal with these scenarios , ' said the spokesperson . The plane was around an hour into the flight to Seattle when it declared an emergency over Scotland . A diversion then took place over the Irish Sea as the plane was forced to dump fuel . With regards to being forced to dump fuel , BA added : 'This is standard procedure . The aircraft has to dump fuel before landing to make sure it is not too heavy . ' One Twitter user spoke of how he had picked up on his radio scanner that 'the crew were on oxygen masks while another report claimed the pilot was wearing a mask . A replacement flight is to be prepared to take off tonight at approximately 9pm , with passengers expected to arrive in Seattle about seven hour after they 'd originally expected . Are you a passenger on board British Airways flight number BA49 or do you know someone on board ? Email john.hutchinson @ dailymail.co.uk .
Boeing 777 was bound for Seattle after setting out from HeathrowLondon Heathrow . BA Flight 49 was flying over Scotland when pilot declared an emergency . A problem with oxygen in the cabin forced pilot to turn back to London . The plane which took off at 2.30pm landed safely at London Heathrow before 5pm .