British Airways flight drops 27,000 feet en route to Chicago and returns to London

A British Airways flight descended roughly 27,000 feet about 30 minutes after departing London on Monday en route to Chicago, according to flight data. Flight tracking from FlightAware showed the aircraft dropping from 36,000 feet to 9,000 feet over several minutes, appearing to be a controlled descent. A British Airways spokesperson said there was a technical issue, and the plane later landed safely. The jet turned back over Ireland and circled for a few hours, apparently to burn off fuel, before returning to Heathrow Airport Monday evening local time. The airline said passengers disembarked normally and its teams were working to get travel plans back on track.