AN American Airlines flight on its way to Miami has had to fly back to London after declaring a mid-air emergency.

Flight AA57 turned around over the English Channel and has flown back to London Heathrow.

The emergency appears to have been caused by a “maintenance issue” and the flight landed back in the English capital just after 11.40am.

It had reached Brest on the Brittany coast when it was forced to turn back.

American Airlines sent out a tweet saying its maintenance team is on the ground to inspect the aircraft.

It added it hoped the flight will take off again at 1pm today.

The twin-engined Boeing 777-300ER has been in operation for just six months, after it was delivered to American Airlines in October last year.