London-NY flight turns back after phone found

A flight from London to New York turned back when a mobile phone was found on board.

A flight from London to New York turned back when a mobile phone was found on board.

The British Airways (BA) flight turned back on Sunday after the mobile phone was heard ringing at the back of the plane.

Mobile phones, along with all items of hand luggage except the bare essentials, were banned on Thursday in light of the bomb plot security alert, and the ban on hand luggage was only lifted on Monday.

None of the 217 passengers on board the plane appeared to own the phone and despite BA's security team at Heathrow deciding it was safe for the plane to continue its journey, the captain turned back as a precautionary measure.

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A BA spokeswoman said the flight, BA 179, took off again at 1.45am and was due to arrive at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport at 4.15am local time.

PA