London-bound British Airways flight forced to land in Athens over smoke warning

Greek authorities say a British Airways jet carrying 158 people from Cyprus to London has made a safe unscheduled landing at Athens International Airport.

Airport officials said the Airbus 320 took off from the city of Larnaca in Cyprus and was in the air on Wednesday evening when the pilot requested permission to land in Athens.

Greek media say the pilot reported that a smoke warning indicator had come on but a check of the plane in Athens didn’t reveal any problems.

The landing was trouble-free and all 152 passengers and 6 crew members exited safely.

The flight was headed to London’s Gatwick Airport.