India, Oct. 5 -- Nearly four hours after flight BA295 rapidly descended 28,000 feet while declaring a general emergency, British Airways on Monday said the aircraft had landed safely at London's Heathrow airport.

The transatlantic British Airways flight, operating from London's Heathrow to Chicago, had issued a squawk 7700 code, used for general emergency, around an hour into the flight. The aircraft had also rapidly descended from 37,000 feet to 9,000 feet, and then taken a U-turn to London again while flying over Irish airspace.

In a statement issued to some UK media outlets, including The Mirror and Daily Mail, British Airways said the aircraft had landed safely after its "highly-trained pilots returned to Heathrow following a techni...