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An American Airlines plane has been surrounded by emergency services vehicles at Heathrow Airport after it suffered a suspected malfunction.
The Philadelphia-bound service from the west London airport had only been in the air for around an hour and had just made it beyond England's south coast when it had to turn back.
Images from Heathrow taken at 2.20pm this afternoon show police vehicles and fire engines encircling the huge jet.
The blue flashing lights sparked concern online, with Flightradar24 posting on X that the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner 'didn't get very far before needing to return to London due to stuck flaps'.
'The aircraft returned safely to LHR and taxied to a remote stand.'
It is understood the plane landed safely, but the vehicles were ushered to the tarmac as a precautionary measure.
The London Fire Brigade confirmed to the Daily Mail it had attended the scene, but that 'no direct action was required by our firefighters and it was left in the care of the airport'.
American Airlines have been approached for comment.
Images from Heathrow taken at around 2.20pm this afternoon show police vehicles and fire engines encircling the huge jet
The Philadelphia-bound service from the west London airport had made it just beyond England's south coast when it had to turn back
The dramatic scenes come just two days after the airport was hit by an outbreak of fire after a vehicle burst into flames and tore through the Terminal 3 car park.
Four fire engines and around 25 firefighters arrived on Wednesday to tackle the blaze as it wrecked the multi-storey facility.
Plumes of smoke were seen billowing out of the car park while bright orange flames tore through the building.
The fire caused a number of disruptions to road routes as those getting to Heathrow by bus were forced to terminate.
Less than a month ago the airport was at the centre of yet more drama after a man was arrested on suspicion of bringing what was thought to be tear gas into the airport - causing Terminal 4's check-in area to shut down.
Some 21 people reported being injured during a 'potential hazardous materials incident' at the airport on September 8, but only one required hospital treatment.
Emergency services later attributed the ensuing chaos - which saw the terminal shut for around three hours - to 'mass hysteria'.
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