London-bound flight from O’Hare grounded after engine shut down

A London-bound flight was forced to return to O’Hare International Airport Sunday evening after mechanical problems forced one of the plane’s engines to be shut down.

The British Airways flight, which left O’Hare at 5:30 p.m., returned to the airport at 8 p.m. after the flight crew shut down an engine experiencing a “surge in power,” according to a British Airways spokeswoman.

“This is standard practice and a procedure our highly trained flight crew will practice during their rigorous and regular testing,” the spokeswoman said.

The plane, which was traveling to Heathrow Airport, was forced to dump fuel over Lake Michigan as it returned to O’Hare, according to Chris Robertson, a Twitter user who said he was on the flight.

After the plane landed safely, representatives from British Airways arranged hotel accommodations and new flight reservations for affected customers, the spokeswoman said.

“We’re very sorry for the disruption this has caused to our customers’ travel plans,” she added.