A British Airways (BA) plane flying to New York was forced to return to Heathrow Airport in London on Wednesday after the US authorities objected to a male passenger onboard landing in New York, a BA spokesman said.

The half-full 747 jumbo jet, carrying 239 passengers, was almost half way into its journey when the decision was taken to turn it around following the US request, said the spokesman.

The plane took off from Heathrow Airport just after 11 am Wednesday bound for John F Kennedy airport in New York. It returned to London and landed just after 5:30 pm.

However, "there was no threat to the safety of the aircraft we took the decision to return to Heathrow," he added.

A spokeswoman from the US transportation Security Administration said: "There was a person travelling on a French passport who was a positive match with an anti-terrorism watch list."

A Scotland Yard spokesman said Wednesday night the passenger had been released by police after being questioned for two hours.

Source: Xinhua