Pilots of a transatlantic passenger plane declared an emergency and diverted to London after the aircraft's windscreen cracked.

The incident happened after the American Airlines Boeing 767-300 left Zurich bound for New York this morning.

A spokesman for American Airlines said: "There was a cracked windscreen and an emergency was declared. The plane landed safely at Heathrow Airport around 11.30am."

The spokesman said the passengers would be flown on to New York later.

It is not yet known why the windscreen cracked but a common cause is a bird strike.

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