India, Oct. 5 -- British Airways flight BA295, operating from London to Chicago, declared an emergency after squawking 7700 and descending to an altitude of 9,000 feet while flying over Ireland, according to flight-tracking website Flightradar24. The aircraft has now been diverted back to London, the flight tracker showed.

Squawk 7700 is the internationally recognised transponder code used by aircraft to indicate a general emergency. The reason for the emergency has not been made public so far

Flight-tracking data showed the aircraft, after making the steep descent to around 9,000 feet over Ireland, turned back towards the UK instead of continuing its journey to Chicago. It subsequently flew south of Wales and over southwestern England ...