Edinburgh Airport-bound passenger flight forced into 'nightmare' U-turn

An Edinburgh bound passenger flight from New York has been forced to divert back to John F Kennedy airport, following reports of a technical issue.

Delta Airlines flight DL208 departed from New York shortly before 10.20pm local time and was scheduled to land at Edinburgh Airport at 9.45am.

A flight path, available on Flightstats, shows the Boeing 767-300 reaching the Atlantic, before turning back around to JFK around two hours after its departure.

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One passenger on the Delta Airlines flight has described the diversion as “an actual nightmare.”

In a post on X, they said: "apparently there was an error with one of the systems so we couldn't cross the ocean."

The original flight from New York to Edinburgh has now been cancelled, with passengers being booked onto later flights.

In a statement to Edinburgh Live Delta Airlines said:

"Delta apologizes to our customers for the delay in their travels and we appreciate their patience. Nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and people.”

They added: "Flight crew followed established procedures to return to New York-JFK after observing a potential engine issue prior to Atlantic crossing.

"Customers have been provided accommodations and meals prior to the continuation of the flight scheduled to depart New York-JFK at 10:00am local time."