A BRITISH AIRWAYS transatlantic flight made an unscheduled precautionary stop at Shannon Airport this morning.

The Boeing 777-236, travelling on flight BA 66 from Philadelphia to London Heathrow, landed in Shannon shortly after 6am.

The flight opted to land early as a precautionary measure after smoke was detected in the cabin during its passage across the Atlantic.

The flight sent its request for an early landing through an Aer Lingus jet about 200 miles ahead of it, which was completing a flight from Boston.

An emergency was not declared, and pilots were heard telling air traffic control that they merely wished to have the plane grounded for examination.

The plane landed safely shortly after 6am.

Shannon Airport’s departures schedule has been amended to include a previously unscheduled British Airways departure to Heathrow, to allow passengers to complete their journey, though passengers may also have been accommodated on Aer Lingus flights at 7:30am and 12:50pm which operate as British Airways code-shares.