A Tokyo-bound flight returned to Los Angeles hours into the journey after the crew discovered that one of the passengers had boarded the wrong plane, an airline said.

A statement from All Nippon Airways said the pilot decided to return to the originating airport as part of the airline's security procedures.

Flight 175 left Los Angeles International Airport at 11.36am and returned to LAX at 7.33pm.

Model Chrissy Teigen was on-board and live-tweeted the developments. She wondered on Twitter why the plane was turning around four hours into the 11-hour flight.

ANA said it is trying to determine how the passenger boarded the wrong flight.

In an apology to inconvenienced passengers, the airline said it takes pride in customer service and failed on this flight.

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